Remember the Butterfly
by Ala Alba EC
Summary: 2013, The Investigation Team was murdered in a reanimation of Inaba Murder Case. In his last breath, the sole survivor pins the Velvet Room as the culprit. Fearing that their steadfast allies betrayed them, the Shadow Operative investigates the horrifying clash between the personifications of collective consciousness with them unknowingly as its pawns.
1. Chapter 1

She knew he's coming, just around the corner. Her heart was thundering behind her ribcage so hard that she could get deaf from it. But she still stood her ground, cradling Naoto's head in her embrace. The young detective's breathing had slowed down compared on the moment before, and she feared that she failed everyone if she couldn't at least get this one friend of hers to safety. Naoto raised her hand to caress hers, and Rise looked down in respond.

"Get… out of here, and warn the Shadow Operative… just like how senpai and Kanji-kun had said. I'll summon Yamato to clear the path…"

Naoto coughed up blood, letting her remaining life dribbled down her chin over the already dried one. Rise shook her head in disagreement.

"No, _we _will get out. I'll carry you out if I have to! You just have to save your strength."

"No… I'm done for."

A loud crash, and the following explosion, could be heard. Naoto groaned, focusing her remaining power into her open palm. A card depicting an arrow over a wheel appeared over her hand and she crushed it as she clenched her fist. That bird-like helmet with long blond hair peeking out of it, those military uniforms, there's no mistake; Yamato Sumeragi.

"Go! Take her out of here!"

The Persona hauled up Rise like a sack of flour over his shoulder and gracefully glided the alley. She could only screamed and kicked at the Persona as she watched her last remaining friend, whom she had shared hell and worse with, propped herself up to face their adversary. Naoto checked and reloaded her empty barrels, aiming straight at where she could hear the incoming noise. Her vision blurred by blood lose and tears, she could almost see nothing.

"Yamato! Put me down!"

The Persona stoically ignored the demand. He glided near the ground level, almost touching the pavement. Even when dying, Naoto still had her head over her shoulder. Masking their escape by flying between the walls and opting to lay low, it was just like how Rise had expected from the Detective Prince. But she also cursed her on the same breath for not running away with her.

"Damn you…"

Suddenly, the shoulder that carried her on high speed dropped her. Rise fell on the concrete floor of the Midnight Channel before sliding to stop. She fell on her shoulder, and she could feel it broke in some places. Raising her head, she saw no sign of Yamato Sumeragi. Naoto's Persona didn't drop her; he vanished, which meant only one thing. Her tears sprung anew at the bare revelation dropping on her head like an anvil.

She's the only one left.

But her eyes steeled themselves.

She still had something to do.

Teddie said that he had set up an exit TV in the usual place. Yamato had brought her near enough to the usual place that she could walk to the place without much fuss. Rise took a step and immediately cringed. It seemed that she also sprained her left leg. Dragging the injured leg behind her, she could see it. The white marking of people's silhouettes like those in the crime scene and the four black circles on the floor; almost there, she said to herself. She must survive to tell Kirijo-san about just what they had faced.

"There you are…"

Her blood run ice cold.

**88888**

**February the 5****th****, 2013**

They were gathered here for a reason, though everyone can already guess what it is. Yukari Takeba had heard about the tussle that Mitsuru and others was involved into with several Persona-users in Yasoinaba, and even though the mess with local Persona-users had been cleared up, there's another problem all together rearing its ugly head. Now allying themselves with what they had called the Investigation Team, though not exactly in a willingly manner, they had one objective clear in their mind.

Hunting this 'Malevolent Entity' down.

But what she most curious about was this group of Persona-user. From how Aigis' sister, Labrys, had described, they seemed like a really good people. Reminded her of her time when they still in S.E.E.S together. She knew everyone who didn't involve in the P1 Grand Prix also think the same. And it would directly tie with what Mitsuru will propose to them.

Now Yukari had taken a good look on Labrys, she could tell that the battle android was an older model, for some reason. Maybe because of that very visible and obvious joints and biohazard symbol on her thighs, she wondered what her scientists were thinking when they stamped the symbol. Though the case of personality was inverted. Labrys couldn't seem to be able to contain her excitement. Mitsuru said that she bonded with the Investigation Team more than with the Shadow Operative officers, and it actually show. In all their way to Yasoinaba, she was unfocused, always staring out of the limo's window and now bouncing in her seat like a child at Christmas as they neared the town.

Yukari was curious of these Persona-users, but Junpei already vocalized her thought out loud.

"Man, really? A team of Persona-users? Reminds you of the old time, right Yuka-tan?"

"I would like to meet them as well." Yukari nodded, "What can I say? Here I thought people like us are pretty rare."

"The same here." Ken said from his seat, sipping his drink before continuing, "But this fog is so thick, I don't think we can see their face even thou they stand before us."

Labrys perked up at this.

"The fog… I remember Teddie said somethin' about the fog in Yasoinaba. He said that the TV World's fog directly tied with the Shadow's activity; when the fog rolls in, the Shadows come out. But only when the fog thinned, the Shadows become aggressive. When the fog became so thick in the TV World, it spilt into the real world, and started turnin' everyone into Shadows."

"Really?" Mitsuru listened with interest. "They didn't disclose such thing in our meeting last November when we trade our notes. When did Teddie say that?"

"Last fall. That time when Yu-san visited Inaba in his vacation. They took me to the TV World and had a picnic in there."

The ex-S.E.E.S members expressed their surprise in a quite obvious way, but Labrys didn't seem to notice, merely looking nostalgic and lost in thought. Junpei flailed his hands upward and exclaimed.

"Wait a sec. Unless I'm mistaken, isn't this 'TV World' a Shadow's nest? And you had a picnic in there?!"

"Yes." Labrys simply stated, really not seeing the problem, "The form that the TV World takes is depending on the state of mind of people who are trapped inside. Yes, when I was inside, it took form as the Yasogami High because of my yearnin' for normal life. But the true form of the TV World… oh, my… I never saw hill and forest more beautiful than that, and they had brought me to a forest for a camping trip before."

"What about the Shadow?" it was Mitsuru.

"You won't believe it! They're fairly tame compares on the shadow that we fought, I even pet some. Though when the fog started to roll in, we had to leave or, as they said, filled full of holes. They were talking about some large Shadow called the Reaper stalked the place if we stayed too long. Oh, they also gave me glasses to see through the fog and prevent the mind interference that cause Shadow of the glasses-less person to appear in the first place."

Labrys pulled a pair of bluish grey framed glasses from her shirt's breast pocket. Akihiko face-palmed at this.

"Then why didn't you tell us earlier? This could help us with our investigation!"

The battle android stopped for a moment to think this through, before laughing and awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

"Ahaha… it doesn't sound that important at the time."

"But from the way you describe it, it sounds like the TV World is a natural habitat of the Shadow." Aigis rubbed her chin, "Maybe a deeper exploration to that world is necessary to understand the Shadow's true nature, especially with the Malevolent Entity's manipulation of Labrys' Shadow self in that tournament."

"I think the Investigation Team already working on that. Chie had contacted me two weeks ago and said that they had a follow up on the Entity's trace. No news about that now other than a potential threat that might be stronger than what we had previously imagined, but we can actually depend on them for the investigation." Akihiko said. He stared at the glasses Labrys produced and took it from her hand without her consent. The android let out an annoyed 'Hey!' but did nothing to retrieve it. The boxer observed the glasses some more before putting it on the bridge of his nose.

"The fog doesn't clear up."

"Maybe this fog is not from the TV World."

"Maybe…"

Akihiko gave the glasses back to Labrys and slouched in a slight boredom.

"I didn't want to involve them to our problem, but it looks like we depend on them more than they depend on us." The Kirijo heir sighed, "And if what Akihiko heard is true, then there's something I want to talk with you. All of you. Though… I quite sure that you already have some picture of what I'm going to ask."

"You want us to join the Shadow Operative." Ken stated the obvious thing in everyone's mind. Mitsuru only nodded.

"The way that the Entity manipulated the event of P1 Grand Prix concerns me. The only thing we know about them is that they have a great knowledge of the events that made up both S.E.E.S. and the Investigation Team's struggle and they can take shape of anyone they want. We still don't know about the extent they could control the Shadow, but we can't risk any possible opening of them attacking us when our back turned. So, yes, I want you to join the Shadow Operative for sake of our mission, and for your own safety, as we know they seem to attack the Persona-users."

Koromaru barked in affirmative. Ken seemed in deep thought, like he doubted the resultant events that filled the Golden Week of 2012. Not that Yukari had right to say anything about that; the way everything went just seemed to contradict what she had known about Shadows and Persona. Maybe because she was in her comfort zone for too long, it's been awhile since she fought any Shadow, and she never get used with changes.

"But we're not here to talk about business. Well, mostly. Inaba might not that large, but it has many landmarks that are also vacation spots. Best we spent our time here for-"

Akihiko's speech was interrupted by a loud bang resounded from the limousine's roof, like something fell on it.

"What the-"

Again his speech was cut short as he saw behind the window an arm lolled from the top of the roof. Mitsuru already out of the vehicle and now she widened her eyes in horror. A dark blue haired woman lied on her back, lifeless and glass-like eyes were staring back at her. Her abdomen was cut open, with her intestines messily spilt on the car's roof and herself.

"Shirogane…!"

Labrys came out and she too stared in horror. She took several steps back until her back hit the telephone pole. Something splattered on her dress shirt and her sensor determined the coppery scent as blood. She looked up, and immediately screamed as she witnessed seven bodies of the Investigation Team being strung up on the nearby houses' television antennas and poles.

**88888**

They had brought the bodies down before the police arrive. Unable to contain their heartbroken, they decided to not wait for the authority and took down the corpses themselves; even though it meant that they messed with the crime scene. Labrys cried non-stop all way through it, and bawled even harder when she took Yosuke's headless body down.

Yukari, Fuuka, and Ken unable to see the procession, opting to stay inside the car. They unintentionally saw one of the girls had her head shot right at the temple, and the imagery of the evokers hit too close to home for them to endure. Labrys' scream warned the locals of what happened and now they gathered around the crime scene, horrified but oddly excited.

"These people…" Yukari turned to Ken, who said mostly to himself, "They seem to be attracted with this sort of thing. They aren't that bored of their life to the point of they find entertainment in murder, right?"

Yukari chose to not answering that. Ken was right, in a way. And she saw it; and its similarity with people whose life had been sucked out by Shadow. People of apathy, just in a different method.

"He's still alive!"

Junpei shouted as he hauled up a large young man on his arms. Both androids perked up and helped the cap wearing man to take him down. Aegis lied the young man down on the concrete and checked on his vital. His breathing was shallow and almost every bone in his body were broken, with his ribs visibly piercing his lungs and jutted out of his skin. He won't survive the travel to hospital. The young man opened his eyes and they tried to focus on the sisters.

"You guys…?" he coughed out blood and bile.

"Easy there, Kanji. Save your strength." Labrys said as she caressed his caked face.

"Thank goodness… Then Rise is… Rise got you…" Aigis bit her lips.

"I'm sorry, Rise-san is…"

She looked to the far side of the road, where Rise lied and had her face covered with a piece of handkerchief. Kanji took notice of this gesture and put two on two together. His face twisted in pain and he sobbed, his body wrecked by pain and guilt for letting his friends die. Mitsuru kneeled and gripped him on the shoulder.

"Tatsumi, I need you to tell me… just who did this to you?"

Mitsuru gave him a slight shake, and Kanji seemed to focus a little more. He opened his mouth, but the words didn't come out. He coughed, trying to spit those words, but still couldn't. Like he choked on his own tongue, with only several wordless opened and closed mouth motion marking his effort. The red haired woman feared that Kanji Tatsumi might unable to say it before he lost too much blood.

"I need a healer! Where's Takeba?"

"The… Velv… vet Room…"

Kanji wheezed out finally. Mitsuru stopped on her track. The Velvet Room? The place where they finally found out the true nature of Metis, the place that been guarded by that strange old man with long nose.

'Don't tell me… he was the one who attacked them?'

She couldn't believe that man could bring such harm to powerful Persona-user while they all were together, from how it looked, but then she remembered what Aigis said about that man. A man that knows about Persona's strength and weakness, and he could fuse them into another Persona. A man with such understanding would have an advantage in battle.

But still, it was hard to believe the possibility.

Mitsuru was about to ask more of what he knew, but her gaze met the same glass-like eyes she saw on the young detective's corpse and the instant she knew that Kanji Tatsumi had passed away.

Damn it… Why they always die before confirming any hard truth?

But she held her tongue and lowered his head in mourning. The last thought of this young man was that he failed to save even just one of his friends. Such a loyal and strong heart, Mitsuru admired such quality. This also confirmed her suspicion. Whoever that the Investigation Team had been tailing, was stronger than any enemy they had faced and had no reservation on killing. But really? Is it true that the master of the Velvet Room is the Malevolent Entity? Akihiko had just finished taking down Narukami's body, his blood staining the boxer half-dressed shoulder and arms.

"Man… this is messed up."

"Yes… and from how it looked, it looks like the modus of the Inaba serial murder in 2011, which means…"

"…They were killed in the TV World."

"Labrys said that the Shadows were pretty tame when she visited, but that was the last fall. We don't know what had happened in the duration. Do you think they chased after the Entity to the TV World and instead bit more than they could chew?"

"Everything is possible now, with the very people that defeated an abomination not unlike Nyx got murdered. And pretty messily, too. Are those gunshot wounds?"

"What more important is to determine if what Tatsumi said is true. Aigis, you are more experience with the Velvet Room. Tell me more about the place."

"Understood." She then went silence, gathering everything that she knew about the strange blue chamber, "The Velvet Room is realm between conscious and unconscious, only accessible by those capable of developing the Persona, or should I say, those who have ego. The proprietor of the Velvet Room is a man called Igor, and he was assisted by several attendants before they deserted for an unknown reason even before our en masse arrival. The function of the Velvet Room is to assist the Persona-users with their quest, mostly through the fusion of Persona for the Wild Card wielders, though the reason why they help us is unknown. Igor knows more than any of us, but always withholds information and speaks in riddles regarding the current quest of the Persona-users they assist."

"So, we don't know about his motive?"

"No." Aigis was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Though, if you ask about my personal opinion, I think Igor is serving a superior."

"At what ground you say that?"

"I… just have the hunch."

Mitsuru obviously didn't buy it, but she didn't push any further. Police siren roared, and she turned to leave.

"Mitsuru-san…?"

"It's better if we don't involve ourselves with the police. Can you find the entrance to the Velvet in Inaba?"

"I don't know. Usually the transfer is unwarned."

"Try harder. Akihiko, Junpei, Labrys, let's go."

"Wait…" Labrys pulled herself up, "You're gonna leave 'em here?!"

"Let the police take care of them. We're going to chase after their murderer."

There was something snapped when Mitsuru stared at those red eyes. Something she had saw before; Ken's eyes before Shinjiro's sacrifice. A hidden hatred and desire for revenge.

"Understood…" Labrys said in such an eerily calm voice that sent shiver down to everyone's spines.

The limousine sped up and tore through a corner, almost hitting the passerby. The Shadow Operative held the arm of their individual seat for dear life as they escaped the crime scene and lay low of the moment, even though Yukari snarked that the only thing that prevent them from being even more visible is the lack of huge neon sign above them. After the initial yelp of surprise, they went mostly silent, with those who personally knew the Investigation Team visibly shook up.

"Damn it…"

Akihiko slammed his fist to the armrest, making Koromaru who clung not far from him jumped to Fuuka's lap. He who, as the announcer of the P1 Grand Prix had shouted so grandiosely, reveres power so much, seeing worthy opponents, and then friends and allies, got slaughtered really put a great dent on his heart. 'How cruel, that's unforgivable!' He thought.

"Aigis, can you detect the entrance of the Velvet Room in this town?"

"I can't. For some reason, I too can't even detect any presence of Shadow-related phenomenon, including the entrance of TV World."

"Keep trying."

"Understood."

"We need to pull off to let Juno scans the entire town. Trying to find just what inside the TV World before we can venture inside. Try finding the entrance of the Velvet Room if you can."

"Yes, senpai."

Mitsuru bit her thumb in worry. She really didn't like how it goes.

**88888**

She ate her melon bread slower like she usually does. For some reason, her intuition didn't seem to agree with her, leaving her with a very heavy anvil hanging by a thread in her belly. Something is wrong, it whispered to her. But it was such a fine day; her neighbor walked their old family dog, her co-workers were in a good spirit that she hummed all way through the broadcast room, and her salary just being transferred. This day couldn't turn bad.

Until Komamura, the journalist, suddenly burst into the broadcast room carrying the highlight news, and she could feel her world shattered into millions of pieces hearing that.

'They're dead…?'

And at a perfect recreation of the Inaba Murder Case at that. Which means…

"That son of a bitch…!"

She pulled out her cellphone and jabbed a number. A little waiting, and no one answering. She then stared at her phone in disbelieve like it was her boyfriend announcing their relationship is over.

"What is going on here?"

She has no connection to her omnipresent benefactor, which means that she has to come to them in person. With that lunatic on loose, she knew that one of these day will become dangerous for the Investigation Team. But for them to get butchered? They who defeated Izanami-no-Okami? She knew the power of the personification of mankind's desire, and those who defeated her basically has ego stronger than the collective consciousness of the entire human race.

Just who strong enough to kill such people?

She only found out about the whole business with the Kirijo Group's android after Rise begrudgingly contacted her about a week (why she had to wait that long to inform her?) after that for sake of investigation and reconnection with the Velvet Room after Yu went back to Tokyo. This 'Malevolent Entity' sounded familiar from how Rise described its motive for some reason.

This 'Entity' might attack Mitsuru Kirijo's team of Persona-users next.

Back to Inaba for her.

**88888**

Just outside the border of Inaba, a group of young adults, a high school student, and a dog could be seen. They made a circle, with one Fuuka Yamagishi at the center. Pointing her evoker to her temple, her hand shook when the recollection of that girl who had her head splattered like watermelon. Just like her first time, and she thought she no longer had the hesitation that prevent her from pulling the trigger.

"Yamagishi…"

"I can't do this…"

"You can."

"I can't…"

"Do it for them."

Fuuka stared at Mitsuru uneasily, but at last her finger pulled the trigger without her making any sound. Phantom of blue glass shards along with a loud shattering noise came out of the other side of head instead of blood and grey matter, filling the entire area with silent expectation.

A wave of aura circled around the teal haired young woman, and surrounding her was a ghost of some sort. A woman with white-faceless but with many eyes mask materialized, its red dress opened up at the bottom, revealing glass-like orb instead of metal frame of a cage dress. Fuuka clasped her hands inside the protective orb, screwing her eyes shut and concentrating. At her cue, the great woman arched its back and spread its arm. Fuuka shook her head.

"What's going on…? I can't see anything!"

"What?!"

"Juno seems to be covered by some kind of veil that disturbed its analysis. I can't see through it no matter what." She grinded her teeth, "This is… unnatural. It twisted and turned like it's alive."

"Is this fog really not from the TV World?" Ken said skeptically.

"The glasses still ain't working." Labrys put away the glasses, "What we're gonna do now? Pullin' back?"

"Yes, we can't risk running head first to danger. Best if we think of a strategy on how we should confront the murderer. That the biggest problem that we have at hand."

"What about chasin' after the murderer?"

"Labrys, I know you're concerned about your friends, but at time like this is not the best to act so rash."

The android frowned, but said nothing back. Watching the scene, Aigis became slightly worried at the development. Her thought, however, distracted by a small tug in her trouser pocket. She pulled out the item, the Velvet Key, and felt a hum came from it.

"I think I have found the location of the Velvet Room entrance."

"Really?"

"The tug got stronger, like it urges me to go. Shall we?"

"You don't have to ask!"

The destination wasn't as glorious as the Shadow Operative had thought. Between a metal smith and a book story, an ordinary wood door could be seen had blue light behind it, slipped through the small slit of its frame. Surrounded by bankrupt shops and idle family businesses, it was depressing if compared with the lively sight of Tatsumi Port.

"This place… is kinda sad, isn't it?" Junpei winced at the sight.

"It's the boonies, after all. There's not many option to choose and those who choose, and when it does, the one that can't compete suddenly lose their ground. When Junes branch opened in Inaba, it basically drove this district out of business."

"I wonder how it feels to be hated…" Labrys said out loud.

"That's not really matter right now. Prepare yourself for whatever that old man has in store."

Aigis grasped the knob, and the blue light got brighter for every inch of the door being opened.

They stood inside the blue room. This incarnation of the room is more similar to their method of transportation than their more familiar variant of theirs. No more eternally ascending elevator, but a quite cramped limousine passengers' seat. But the expected resident of the room was not there, nor was his know assistant. Instead, an unknown young woman in suit stood with her back facing them, contemplating or reading a piece of paper in her hand.

The young woman then crushed the paper in her fist and swore in a hiss.

"Philemon, you incompetent bastard…! I should just go and bash your face in myself!"

Mitsuru breathed out to calm her nerve, and lightly tapped the woman's shoulder. The woman, unfortunately, didn't take kindly at the intruding move. She turned sharply, hand slapping Mitsuru's. The thing that the Shadow Operative didn't expected was a red skeletal arm suddenly whipped from behind the sleeve of her other hand and now proceeds to choke the Kirijo woman.

The Shadow Operative instantly jumped to her defense, with Akihiko already midway through with his punch. But it wasn't the incoming attack that got her attention.

"Persona-users? You're the Shadow Operative!"

The strange, vaguely demonic woman released her choke hold, barely flinching when Akihiko's fist stopped just an inch from her nose. The red arm slithered back behind her sleeve, a notion that made everyone's skin to crawl.

"Please, pardon my manner. Right now, I'm in a disagreeable mood."

The stranger bowed low to them. Now that Junpei had a good look on her, he let out a choked exclaim.

"Aren't you that Mariko Kusumi?! That weather forecast girl in TV that is said to never make a wrong forecast?"

"The very same. But, I definitely cheat on the 'never make a wrong forecast' thing."

"Seeing that you can grow another arm, I can assume you're not a normal human being." Mitsuru rubbed her neck, wincing at how possible that she might break her windpipe, "How can you have an access of the Velvet Room?"

"Maybe because I was an attendant? Maybe we should start the introduction from the beginning. My name is Mariko Kusumi and the Investigation Team called me Marie, but my real name is Kusumi-no-Okami, an extension of Izanami-no-Mikoto, the personification of humanity collective desire. I ended up in the Velvet Room after Izanami-no-Mikoto separated herself into several aspects, and Igor made me pay the lodging by working as a Velvet Room assistant."

"I see." Ken nodded to himself, "That's why you know about Persona and the Investigation Team; this is their turf after all. But it still doesn't explain why you know us."

"I'm their direct contact and… 'spy', you can say that. Working in journalist business has its knack, but now my loyalty only to the Investigation Team after they beat my other aspects senseless. You can't make me say anything unless it has something to with destroying the one who murdered my friends." Marie then sat on the left side of the opposite passenger seat from the Shadow Operative like it was natural for her to sit there. "Now you come here by your own will, surely you already some track. Or you just want to use 'divine intervention' of the Velvet Room as a start?"

"Kanji Tatsumi in his last breaths said that the Velvet Room has something to do with the attack. Do you know anything about that?"

"Yes. They came to the Velvet Room, all of them, in January. There they met someone that they should not in person. He then gave them some clues regarding the whole mess with the 'Malevolent Entity' and sent them to investigate. We all know how well it goes."

"This… 'someone' in the Velvet Room misdirected the Investigation Team into getting killed?"

"More like being very vague with his clues and wholly passive the entire conflict that is technically his fault. But yeah, he made them got killed. He didn't tell just what kind of monster they would face, and, I bet, that son of a bitch took a cheap shot when they finally confronted him."

"That means you already know who killed them."

"Yes, there's only one that will do something like this. But if you want a name, then I can't do that."

"What?! After all those build up, but you can't even give us a clear answer." Junpei facepalmed, "And you seem to dislike being vague."

"That's because it's forbidden for things like me to say it. Only those who have similar standing with the bastard can say it outright, which unfortunate is the one who has tendency to speak in vague riddle and that vagueness indirectly killed the Investigation Team."

"How can we find him or Igor? If it's true that he unintentionally led the Inaba Persona-users to their demise, then he doesn't really want it to happen, which means he isn't hostile. Aigis has a hunch that Igor has a superior, and in turn I have a hunch that this person is the one."

"You're sharp, Kirijo-san. You can't find him without finding Igor first. And the only one who knows where Igor goes is the last loyal attendant of the Velvet Room, Margaret. …Maybe. Margaret was the last loyal attendant but it was quite awhile ago. Who knows that she might desert too?"

"It's entirely luck-based? Man, talk about suck. Hey Kusumi-san, what do _you_ think we should do?"

"Eh?" the indifferent mask toward them slipped just a little. Maybe Junpei just has a knack for girls of this kind, every member of ex-S.E.E.S. thought, "Why things you're going to do have anything to do with me? Whether you want to find Margaret or Igor first isn't my business."

"Well, you said that you were the Investigation Team's informant. You should be the one who know the most about what they were investigating." The dark haired woman scowled.

"… Fine. But jumping head first to their investigation might send you right at the same thing that killed them. Go to Naoto's house; ask her grandfather or butler about her 'stash', they will understand."

"Kusumi-san, thank you very much for the information. We will surely punish the murderer accordingly." Mitsuru bowed at her.

"Keep your ears open for rumors. They always end up true, just being exaggerated to the point of unrecognizable. Good luck."

**88888**

Marie watched their forms faded out from the Velvet Room and her scowl became deeper. A small wisp of blue light fluttered down to her face and she looked up. A blue butterfly flapping its fragile wings toward the limousine's seat at her left, transformed into a man with brown hair in high ponytail wearing a butterfly mask. Marie shook her head.

"I don't why I covered you in this. I never understand you trickster mentor type, why you always searching for the hardest way to explain to your followers when _he _is out for their blood? Persona-users are his followers as much as your own, and he will definitely use that against them, directly or indirectly." Marie focused every bit of her hatred toward the man, but he barely fazed.

"How many of your Wild Card that you will discard, huh? Of all Persona-users, those in Inaba are the one with best affinity to hold the Sea of the Soul in bay, and with just one Wild Card in your deck, even with help those from Mikage-cho and Sumaru, will do nothing once he takes control of your Wild Card. Face it, Philemon. The Crawling Chaos has proved himself victorious in this bet. Igor even thinks so!"

"Even though I agree that I neglected my children for far too long, I think you're too rash in this, Izanami."

"Well, sorry but I just heard news that the reincarnation of the ex-husband I still love just got killed and hung on a telephone pole when you know Nyarlathotep is a cheating prick. Please excuse my hostility to you." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Indeed, what he did is something that I didn't anticipate. But, everything is not lost. The Inaba children are still alive, just like the first Wild Card of Iwatodai is alive."

"Then they're more dead than anything."

"They can be released, but we need the rest of children for that. You said yourself that the Inaba children are the one with best affinity keeping the Sea of the Soul in bay, are you doubting the strength of ego of the one who defeated you?"

"… You got me."

"Be a little patient with this, Izanami. If preparation is complete, then we might not see Nyarlathotep corrupting the children for a longer duration of time than usual."

"…"

**88888**


	2. Chapter 2

She opened her eyes, and greeted by the sudden sight of busy shopping district. Yukari never thought that she would see that room again. Those blue velvets really reminded her of the absolute mistake that she almost did and cost them everything they had been fighting for. But then she realized; there was a young girl standing near where their consciousness seemed to leave their body.

Her brown eyes were wide, really similar with Ken's, and she stared at them with that innocently curious gaze.

"Why are you standing in front of Master Daidara's warehouse door? His workshop is right over there."

She said as she pointed at the large doorless entrance that spewed smoke and coal right next to the door they had just entered. The quip snapped the Shadow Operative from their absent-minded stares, and only just then noticed the girl. Labrys' eyes widened, and she tore through the wall consisted of Akihiko and Junpei to greet the girl. The girl's eyes also brightened at the sight of her.

"Labby-chan! You're visiting Big Bro and the others?"

"Uh… yeah. I'm visitin' with the other friends of mine. But suddenly there's an urgent things we gotta do, so we have ta go back now." The girl visibly deflated.

"So you won't meet Big Bro now?"

Labrys bit her lower lips, having no heart to say the truth.

"Next time, definitely!" the battle android said with the most cheerful voice she could muster.

"Okay!"

There was something that instinctively tugged the young men and women's heart when that girl smiled so brightly at them. So full of happiness, full of hope. They had a feeling that those things would be destroyed not long after this.

Labrys waved the girl goodbye, before bursting into tears after she was out of the earshot.

"Sister?" Aigis was confused, putting a comforting hand on the crying axe wielder, "What's going on? Who is that girl?"

"That girl…" her sister sobbed, "Is Nanako-chan, Yu-san's younger cousin. I-I don't know what will happen to her when she… when she find out."

Labrys rubbed the liquid hydrogen from her eyes and face with her dress shirt's sleeve.

"That poor girl admires Yu-san so much…" Mitsuru put her own hand on Labrys' other shoulder.

"Let's go…" she nodded solemnly.

**February the 7****th****, 2013 **

They had Naoto's address, so it was easy to do the first instruction from Marie almost immediately. The entire journey to the place, on the other hand, couldn't be said the same. Ken was in a deep thought, gathering his wit after witnessing such brutality and savagery. He never saw anything like that, even in their ascending of Tartarus. One thing that he had to ask, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't like the answer.

"Aigis-san, do you know the exact details of the Inaba Murder? It seemed to me that the press trying to hide this one case out from public."

"It was Kirijo Group's doing."

"Figures… What do you know, then?"

"It was a serial murder which culprit used the TV World as its instrument. The official and confirmed victims of the case were Miyuki Yamano and Saki Konishi, while the third murder was a doing of a copycat murderer. The culprit then manipulated Taro Mataname into kidnapping several other people as his self-righteous and misguided attempt to save them, not knowing that the TV World was dangerous for those without Persona."

"And the Investigation Team's involvement in the case other than catching the culprit?"

"Several of their members were those who survived the kidnapping. The Investigation Team was initially just a group of friends whose friends were kidnapped after Yu-san, Chie-san, and Yosuke-san unintentionally fell into the TV World and forced to fight Shadows. Feeling that they were the only one who can stop the murder, they formed their group into the Investigation Team."

"So they jumped head first into a place they knew is dangerous because they wanted to save their friends?" Junpei pinched the bridge of his nose in disbelieve, "I have to say it… What badasses."

"And the culprit?"

"Tohru Adachi escaped from prison in November 2012."

"Then…" Fuuka's eyes widened in horror, "The culprit killed them as revenge..."

"There's a possibility. Adachi was said as one of those who were granted the power of Persona directly from personification of collective consciousness local in this town, Izanami. In prison, the warden said that he was a model prisoner, but in mid 2012, he was reported to have some kind of manic depression and hallucination, often speaking to himself and sometimes screaming without clear reason. He was planned to be replaced to an asylum, but his escape happened." Aigis shook her head.

"Too many suspect. If there's a possibility that Adachi was the one who murdered the Investigation Team, then it's also possible that Mitsuo Kubo, copycat murderer, also want revenge. He was released from the asylum in last January. His reports imply that he has a very violent temper and somewhat attention thirst."

"That's not counting the 'Malevolent Entity' and that creepy voice bastard. And the mysterious resident of the Velvet Room, don't forget him too."

"That's right, Akihiko-san. As long as we don't have any trail to point our finger to, we basically paralyzed in our investigation. It… makes me uneasy."

"Maybe we should concentrate on the more supernatural suspects first. I wonder if Shirogane-san's 'stash' has anything to do with that." Yukari leaned her chin on her open palm, "I know I shouldn't say this at time like this, but… do you think we all can go home and back to our personal lives? Are we in danger?"

"To be honest, Takeba… I do think so."

The Shirogane Resident was a very large complex of mansion and garden the size of three football courts. Mitsuru was slightly homesick when she saw that the Detective Prince's home was not that different from her own, but she became alarmed when both Labrys and Aigis suddenly snapped into guarded stance.

"Sister… do you feel that?"

"Yes… this readin' ain't a mistake." Junpei tilted his head.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Junpei-san! Get down!"

Aigis tackled the cap-wearing young man, just as a large sport motorcycle tore through a bush and almost severed his head. It skidded to stop, leaving a track of burned grass and rubber on its wake. The motorcycle was red and black, with six front lamps stylized into a frowning face and numbers '00' painted into upper right of its body, it looked like it was speeding through the garden without a rider and was alive.

"What is that…?"

"An Anti-Shadow Weapon…"

The sound of roaring engine slowed to stop and the Shadow Operative officers were left speechless when the motorcycle started to break apart and transformed into a man with large stature. His eyes were sharp and full suspicion, and that gaze almost instantly nailed on the two women androids in front of him.

"Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Generation 5…" he nodded toward Labrys, "And Generation 7." He glanced at Aigis, "What a family reunion we have here, should I bring you some cookie and tea? What do you want here, 'sisters'?"

It was clear that from his heavily sarcastic remark that this male android was hostile toward their presence. Mitsuru stepped forward, trying to keep up the diplomatic stance.

"It's been awhile, Genesis."

"Yes, it is… Kirijo-san."

"We're here to investigate th-"

"No need. The police had already taken it as evidence."

"What?" Akihiko raised his eye brow in skepticism, "How do they know about Shirogane's 'stash' if it's so secret her informant suggested us to depend on it?"

"Naoto-kun had been working with the police longer than she was fighting Shadows; and only after picking up the supernatural aspect of the Shadow that she found out the police knew about Shadow more than she or you had ever expected. Does the name Tetsuma Tsuge remind you of something?"

"He works with the police now?"

"At Ryoutaro Dojima's demand of investigation, Tsuge offered his assistance and gave him the 'stash' in secret. I doubt Dojima-san knows anything about Shadow or Persona, but he wasn't the one that Tsuge had expected to notice the hints." Labrys gasped.

"Nanako-chan…!"

The Shadow Operative turned toward her with one question clear, why that little girl that was the cousin of Yu Narukami had anything to do with it? But then, Aigis realized a small detail.

"Nanako Dojima was the last victim of the kidnapping, abducted to and rescued from the TV World personally by Taro Namatame and the Investigation Team respectively. A great possibility that Nanako had witnessed the TV World and the battle between them, and survived with the knowledge."

"Tsuge wants to awaken Nanako-san's potential to fight against whoever killed the Investigation Team…" Yukari was as white as a sheet, "Madness! We're talking about someone who murdered an experienced group of Persona-users! Throwing a little girl in the middle of the fight is…!"

**88888**

Her heart broke, and couldn't stop crying since she heard the news. Now she no longer has tears to waste, but her sob still uncontrollable.

Her Big Bro was dead, plain and simple. And it hurts like a wrecking ball slammed right at her chest.

She didn't want to do anything. Eating, going to school, doing some chores. Everything for some reason had lost their meaning.

"**Do you want to die?"**

A haunting voice whispered. Her own subconscious? She could feel the voice sneered at her.

"**You're pitiful! How could you let everything go the way they were not? This is not something that you truly desired!"**

Now Nanako started to get scared. This strange voice was speaking to her, not into her ears but directly inside her mind. A familiar voice, but distorted by a second one that spoke in unison with it. She jolted up from her bed, and her eyes widened when she saw her reflection on the mirror right in front of her.

It was her, scowling back from its place.

"**Do you want avenge your Big Bro? Because I do."**

"Why you can know about it? Are you… me?"

"**Yes, I am you."**

"You will help me avenge Big Bro…?"

"**Of course. That's why I am here. We'll make them pay."**

Her reflection smiled in eagerness and genuine glee.

"Together…"

"**Together…"**

They spoke in unison, and her reflection shifted and twisted into a strange yellow haze. Nanako narrowed her eyes as the haze parted; from the inside she felt that someone stared back at her. Three red eyes suddenly flashed, and she jolted back in surprise.

**I am thou… Thou art I… From the sea of thy soul, I come… Judge, jury, and executioner, Emma-hoo…**

The blasphemous distortion of her voice slowly changed in every syllable of the phrase. Deep, throaty, guttural growl; became clearer and clearer as the yellow haze thinned. A giant humanoid, so tall that Nanako could only see the glowing red eyes of its faraway face from the angled perspective that the mirror suddenly took, with bluish black skin and dressed in yellow and blue robes decorated with golden jewelries. It wielded a wicked looking golden mace, its head full of spikes and skull-like teeth jutting out here and there.

She felt it in her hand. A card the size of a playing deck, depicting a sword with its guard doubled as a scale. She felt it; the presence of her own power, the presence of the great giant. She let her hands closed on the card, let it shattered into her psyche and closed her eyes as she basked in a feeling that she could only describe as 'satisfied'.

When she finally opened her eyes, the reflection was gone, and instead she saw many small details that she had somehow missed all this time.

There was a small wisp of blue ribbon-like haze coming from the inside of her father's work chamber.

That wisp attracted her curiosity. It seemed so familiar to her, like a small pat to her shoulder that she got every time she did something remarkable. A small pat that Big Bro and his friends often gave. The wisp slipped through the slit under the room's door. When she opened the door, the wisp suddenly rolled into the entire house like fire smoke.

Nanako instinctively covered her nose and mouth, but then noticed that the wisp didn't smell like smoke at all. No, it didn't have a smell, but more like it gave her a sudden sense of nostalgia. She could hear a voice of encouragement when she almost gave up tailing her cousin, along with the protective and watchful gaze of the observant.

"Nao-nee-chan… Rise-nee-chan…"

The wisp came from a small box, a rusty old lunch box. It was quite large, with one of its hinges had long since gave out. On the lid was a slightly faded picture of Featherman R, making their iconic poses. When she took a closer look, she then realized that the wisp was actually made up from two different signature; dark blue and white.

**Yamato Sumeragi and Kouzeon… I, Emma-hoo, see why the Great Father chose that boy as His host.**

'Emma-hoo?' Little startled from the sudden quip, Nanako concentrated and fell deeper into her mind. The gigantic figure was there, but she could see it better up close. It was sitting saddle-side on a white horse decorated with skulls, arms crossed while mace hanging loosely on its back. She still couldn't see the face clearly other than those three red eyes, but she could make up the outline of wide, teeth-bearing permanent sneer.

**The Great Father was passed down by the Great Mother several years ago into candidates, it was actually the Great Father Himself that chose who could wield His power to its truest. The one that could unite His family together after aeons of strife and bad blood, thy brother was the one.**

'Big Bro…? Uniting this 'Great Father' and his family? The Persona… so Yamato Sumeragi and Kouzeon were also Personas? Was the 'Great Father' also a Persona?'

**Yes. Behold the judgment that I, Emma-hoo, will show to you, my child! The truth that thy brothers and sisters were dying to gain!**

Then, Nanako was a small wisp.

A small wisp in between countless of other wisps, floating and swirling in an endless black. She was small, but she was bright; only so many of those wisps were as bright as her.

"Where is this?"

**The Sea of Souls, the Collective Consciousness, the Akashic Records. It was known in many names, but one thing the scholars were agreed of was that it is the embodiment of all humanity's memories and history. Millions and trillions of souls became one in this place, each and every soul share a consciousness that is this entire place. A consciousness that made up of the entire humanity's consciousness.**

But if it was true, something bothered her about the theory, "Then why I don't really see anything? Why I can't really remember this… 'other' consciousness the others share?"

**It was because of the power that I, Emma-hoo, had blessed upon you, the consciousness that we both share. A power that protectesh you own Self behind a mask from impurity of the outside threat, the Persona. Those with Persona…**

"…have their memories unmixed with the other except for the two of us... Then Yamato Sumeragi and Kouzeon were…?"

She didn't really need answer; she could see it by herself. Those who have brighter glow than the other, those who slightly disorganized from the uniform swirling of the wisps, they were people with Persona. She could feel familiar presences, the same ones as the ones she felt up from the box and many other than she previously only recognized through nostalgia.

Those smiling faces…

Those cheerful laughs…

Those times they spent together…

Nanako opened her eyes, and her hand felt the cold steel of the lunch box. She pried open the rusty lid with some difficulty.

'Now, what were you hiding from me, everyone?'

Its contents were not that special for something that was said to hold the key hint of a mystery, and Nanako only saw something akin like a time capsule older generations made. She yelped a little at her sore and red fingers, before tilting her head in confusion. That smoke-like wisp was actually coming from the outside of the box, not inside, and actually acted as a seal. She looked at her fingers, where some of the blue wisp swirled and vanished to thin air. Looking around the room, it turned out that the smoke almost dissipated completely.

And the content of the box only made her even more confused. There were pictures of the Investigation Teams, from their vacations, to their school and summer festival, to her Big Bro's departure from Inaba and reunion after a year of losing contact. All of them smiling at the camera, their growth visible from their appearance in each photo. It was heartwarming, but not exactly an evidence material.

Then she saw it.

Very thin silhouettes slightly distorted the background of the photos, like someone stood behind them and had invisibility effect like in movies. Their Persona, every single one of them were Persona-users. Then Emma-hoo's statement about reuniting the broken family of 'Great Father' was making sense; the Investigation Team was the family, her Big Bro united his friends who had the Persona of that family's spirits. But the reason of why he did just that was something that she didn't want to remember.

Everyone in Inaba was actually conscious that these high school students were the one who caught the culprit of Inaba Murder Case; from the fake killer, to the kidnapper, to the real murderer. They knew and recognized the Investigation Team as the local hero, but said nothing about it because they knew those kids were famous enough as they were.

If she put the Persona business inside the case then she might stop being skeptic. But it still immensely disturbed her. She actually lied when they asked whether she remember anything about her kidnapping, and now with her Persona's awakening, she might have to go back to that strange place to call for her cousin's retribution.

**Everything ought to go just the way thou wantest to if thou wantest it. And if it is revenge that thou callest, then I, Emma-hoo, will see it done!**

"We can't really do anything until we know just who did that."

The top most photos was from their last vacation in summer. Yu was visiting, and so did Labrys. They said they went to the forest, but this forest, mostly its strange trees, looked unfamiliar for her. Behind Labrys was the same flickering silhouette, answering her status behind her meeting with the rest of the team. But her Persona wasn't the only thing that was different from the rest of the pictures. A strange pattern, made from the same flickering invisibility, was written across their bodies. A phrase?

She narrowed her eyes as best as she could, but she still could not make up what was written in that invisible letters.

She decided to check the box once more. She then saw the underside of the box was a little newer than the rest, with artificially made rust to complete the illusion. After minutes of trying to open the fake underside, Nanako found it was another lid hiding a secret compartment. There was a custom made knife, its blade was new and no rust on it, blue-framed glasses that she often saw Naoto wearing, and a small black book.

"Nanako, I'm home."

Her father! He must not know that she snooped around her workplace. Taking the entire content of the secret compartment into her pocket and making sure they were well hidden under her shirt, she replaced the lids and went out of the room as fast as she could. Ryoutaro Dojima looked even more tired than she remembered. His death surely punched the cop across the face harder than his own wife's death did. He heavily slumped into the low table, and Nanako wordlessly prepared a cup of coffee for him before retreating back to her room.

Locking her door and pulling out the 'evidences', the girl observed the knife first. It was, indeed, custom made combat knife, with a fairly long blade and serrated blunt side. The grip was mostly red with some black and at the top of the rain guard toward the center of the blade was inscribed a phrase.

"'He who has thousands faces, beware of his deceit'. Who is he?"

**There are many with epithet 'Thousands Faces', we cannot guess which one that knife refereth to.**

"Why there's a knife in that box? And what's the meaning of this knife? Did Nao-nee-chan want to say or leave something for anyone to find?"

**The possibility is endless, indeed. But it is better for thee to take the advice. Who knoweth what kind of abomination that will sway our righteous judgment into punishing a wrong person?**

"So we do nothing? Then how we can find the culprit?"

**Even in inaction, life is still going on without care. And sometimes, inaction is the best course of action.**

Emma-hoo was silent before continuing.

**What about the other loot?**

The book and the glasses. Nanako checked everything about the glasses but found nothing was wrong with it except for the glasses doesn't seem to help any myopic anytime soon. Fake glasses? Why would Naoto need fake glasses and wear it regularly? While the book…

_15/09 2012_

_Adachi-san escaped from the prison. I don't know what to make out of the news, but Senpai said to not worry about it. Yamato doesn't agree in slight, and I agree with him. But I trust Senpai's judgment of that man over than anyone else._

_26/09 2012_

_The Shadow Operative is surprisingly lax over the entire 'Malevolent Entity' problem, even outright ignorant over the extent of its control over the Shadow in their own turf. Tartarus, the Dark Hour, the incident of Moonlight Bridge in 1999, even the reason why the Kirijo Group experimented with the Shadow in the first place, everything was the manipulation of the 'Malevolent Entity'._

_Koutesu Kirijo, a man of integrity and wisdom, suddenly obsessed with the Fall and sought to bring about the death of humanity. Why is that? It doesn't make sense. At least, until we fulfill our end of promise with the Shadow Operative, and visit the Tatsumi Port Island._

_What we found, I quote from Kanji-kun himself, is seriously fucked up. Koutesu Kirijo was not a man that his family knew by the time the Kirijo Group started making those Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, his flesh was nothing but a meat suit for the 'Entity' to use. _

_I don't know what to say about it._

_27/12 2012_

_The Kirijo Group's involvement with the Shadow actually went back since their time as a part with the Nanjo Group. There was a rumor, that the Nanjo heir, now head, had several clash with the Shadow in past, and it had a direct relevancy with his company's rivalry with SEBEC. The details are scarce, but if only we can question Kei Nanjo over this matter, then we can shed some light into the real identity of the 'Malevolent Entity', or at least that 'Eerie Voice' who accompanied it._

_12/01 2013_

_Yesterday, we finally met just who had pulled our strings to fight against the personification of humanity's collective consciousness. But for some reason, we could not hear him when he spoke out his name, or any other people who tried to do the same to us. The Velvet Room has granted us a free entrance, not only to Senpai, but to all of us. Maybe I can use it to ask the strange man with long nose about our investigation._

…_For a moment, it sounds like this Velvet Room is actually quite familiar. Where did Senpai had talk about a strange blue room with a long nosed man in it?_

Nanako's eyes narrowed at one phrase that caught her attention.

'He who had pulled their strings to fight against the personification of humanity's collective consciousness'

**88888**

In amidst of countless candle-like fire swirling like nebula, a lone girl stood, no floated, over the endless black. Her eyes focused on a single flame, glowed slightly reddish then the usual soft blue. The elevator attendant approached the small flame in caution.

"What a curious thing… A Wild Card who died before her time." The flame flickered once.

"_Oh, but I do alive in some other time. It's just this time I was the one who ended up died."_

"An alternate alliteration? How fascinating, I don't believe that I see someone, even if it was a Persona-user, who remembers their alternate self's experience. The Sea of Souls surely hides many secrets."

"_So, what is your intention travelling far and difficult journey to this purgatory, Elizabeth? I don't think mere curiosity can urge you to do that."_

"I'm here to save a boy."

"_A boy?"_

"A boy who sacrificed himself to be the Great Seal."

"…_I see. Do you love that boy?"_

"I… don't know…" Elizabeth was visibly downcast, eyes suddenly lost their glint, "There are many things that I still don't know in this world, and yet… for some reason I know this is what I want to do. I want to save him, but I can't do it alone. I tried to seek what I lack but… it seems that I don't even understand it yet. Not yet but will be, I am sure of that."

"_Your heart is in a right place, Elizabeth. It's just you need to learn more." _The flame giggled to herself, _"Fine, I will aid your quest. But before that, may I know who this boy is?"_

"He was known as Makoto Yuki. May I know yours? You seem to be in familiar with me."

"_Me? I'm Mikoto Yuki."_

**88888**

_Difference between death and life is just as thin as a strand of hair. I found out about it myself. In the incident of the Moonlight Bridge in 1999, I was a young daughter of a husband and wife. Along with a little boy that was my younger brother. The incident that had my parents killed, as well as I was. I died in the incident, leaving my brother alone._

_In the Sea of Souls I expressed my plight. It wasn't fair that I died. I want to live. I want to be the one who live. And so, in the other time, in another chance, I came back in the time where my family went across the bridge. I was alive, and my brother was the one who died. I lived through the fact that whether it was I or him, there wasn't a difference. We take each other place, each other lives, and still not making any difference._

_And in the end, it had no difference._

_It was I or him, to be the Great Seal._

_In this world, I was the one who died on that bridge. I was from the world where I wasn't saved from the Seal forever, and my mind sought for another me, the me in this Ocean who died before her time. Her and I are the same, and we share the same Sea. I am her, and she is me._

_But my brother isn't saved from his sacrifice yet. And this time I will see it done. Let him live his life, unlike me._

**88888**

**Please use this, Mistress.**

The Persona draped his half skirt into her shoulder, which she accepted with gracious.

"Thank you Thanatos…" she then turned to the elevator attendant, "Thank you for taking care of the version of him in this world."

"He's your favorite, isn't he? If your journey is the same as he had endured, then you also have Messiah. And yet, he, the Angel of Death, was the one who born from your soul."

"My love is equal everyone, except for myself. Deep in my heart, I know I don't deserve Messiah as my own part because I don't love myself as much as I love others."

**That's horrible, Mistress. You should stop doing that to yourself. What will the other think if you don't see the worth of yourself while you sweated blood to make them see theirs?**

"It doesn't really matter right now."

The red-eyed girl shivered as a strong breeze blew toward them and made her tightened her grip on Thanatos' cloth.

"This cold is almost unnatural if it can make spirits shivered." A gruff voice teased from behind her, and she answered the quip with a light punch to his arm. The young man smiled down at her, and she finally acknowledged the rest of the people she dragged from the Sea of Souls along for their journey.

"I can't believe you can convince me to go with you. This entire business of reviving a dead guy isn't concern me at all." A redheaded girl huffed in irritation while keeping her own black robe from flaring too much and flashing her naked flesh to any bystander who can see them. Mikoto was slightly not recognizing her without her elaborate headdress at the first time their spirits took form, but hearing the sharp snide that started to grow on her, she knew that she didn't wrongly pick a girl.

"Maybe I'm just that good at persuasion."

The final member of their group said nothing at the exchange, opting to eye their surroundings. They stood on a roof of high school building in a town named Yasoinaba. For her, it was a new experience to step out of her small confinement. But it scared her senseless to do so, not knowing what to do was the thing that she rather avoided.

Elizabeth walked to the edge of the roof and jumped to the metal fence that prevent anyone from easily fall to their death. She took a deep breath, feeling the cold wind that carrying forest scent filled her lungs, and addressed her ragtag bunch of 'companions'.

"Well, I don't want to delay you any longer so it's better if we continue our journey. Only if we can find the Velvet Room entrance in this lovely town…"

"Wait…" the redhead said uncertainly, "You mean you don't know about this town? Then why do you take us here?"

"I do have come to this town." The elevator attendant said in slight indignant huff, "It's just haven't do a recon mission in this town other than a local Shadow settlement. Two Wild Cards, and one of them is familiar to you. They were the one who taught me about the power of Wild Cards."

"My successors, huh? So the reason why you bring us here is to find those two for their aid too?" Elizabeth smiled at this accusation.

"Let's just say I want a rematch."

**What a dangerous woman… Do you think it's wise to sell our live to this lunatic? **A red and yellow humanoid wearing a sheep-like skull as helmet and its golden fleece cascaded down its back like hair said to the redhead, its head tilted in amazement. The redhead only sniffed out the air, but said nothing to answer.

**It's not like we have live to begin with. We had wasted it, one way or another.**

Disembodied voice came from an invisible creature wearing its clothing, leaving only skeletal looking white hoop dress, arm length gloves of the same color, and a bright red beaked head attached to it butterfly-like wings. The skull-wearing Persona turned to the creature and scowled, making its black face even more horrifying.

"I think I would like to see how those kids are doing." Mikoto exclaimed as she stretched her arms over her head, "Of course, after we regain a body for this world."

"To the Velvet Room, then~!"

**88888**

"Decision had been made; Nanako Dojima will have her involvement in this case, whether it's as bait or as front line fighter. One thing to be sure is that this 'Malevolent Entity' and the 'Mysterious Voice' seem to have a great interest to the Persona-users local to Inaba for some reason."

"Then… why don'cha use me instead? My Persona was born in Inaba, through Inaba's trials, I had been manipulated by those two already. Shouldn't be too hard to do that again."

"Sister!" Aigis shouted at her, aghast. The male android, on the other hand, looked rather surprised, before quickly composing himself with a fake cough.

"We can only see it from afar. Our opponents surely more dangerous than you might have ever fought; and we can't exactly running around for a wild goose chase and suddenly ambushed in our weakest. Our protocol is to staying put, end of story."

"Genesis, you changed."

"Why, thank you Kirijo-san. I'm glad I graduate from a mere vehicle to someone who can reason."

"And you become a coward in process." Genesis scowled.

"And I will be the one who pull your sorry asses when everything goes wrong, mark my word."

With the last ultimatum, the Anti-Shadow Weapon transformed back to his bike form and rode off toward the back garden of the estate. Mitsuru glared back at where the android had left and relented almost immediately. Her gloved hand run through the thick strands of red hairs as she sighed.

"We can't really get everything at this rate."

"I suggest we split this group and search for the suspected places."

"Amada, it's too dangerous to go off undermanned. It's indeed ambush, and we can't risk that."

"Well, we can't really move either if we keep huddling like this. The evidence moves or replaced, and we'll be too late to get it before it was altered by someone else."

"Ken-kun is right. The Inaba kids were killed under our nose, man… and after you said you'll protect them? Not to mention just how many time limit fetch quest that we have to do before we have any idea for this case? We're sitting duck if stay like this, never mind that we might never find anything."

"Iori… Fine, we'll split this group in two. One stays here to investigate the estate, who knows what kind of clue that Shirogane left, and one goes to Inaba to check on Nanako Dojima. Keep an eye on her and make sure that she won't do anything rash. Labrys, you know the town better than anyone here. You're in charge." The white haired android stood straighter.

"Understood."

"Everyone, let's move!"

**Chapter 2 Ends**

**88888**

When you make a thesis about the Arcana and its connection to the characters of Persona series, only then you realize that the cast is freakin' huge. And that's only counting those who in 3 and 4. This fanfic might bloat the cast even more with people from the cameo of 1 and 2, and I actually tried my best to make list thin. Looks like it fails spectacularly, so I start to introduce the cast herds by using affiliations system.

So we have about four groups against one alliance consisted of the Malevolent Entity and the Eerie Voice; the Investigation Team, the Shadow Operative, the Velvet Room, and Elizabeth's ragtag. The Investigation Teams are mostly killed off, but now Nanako is the representative of the group as whole and acts independently from the other. Marie's true allegiance is actually toward the Investigation Team, but her connection with Izanami, who in turn has a connection with Philemon that chained her down to the rule of neutrality that all collective consciousness shared, makes her sitting duck in the Room. Elizabeth's group will work mostly off-screen, but we still will see and hear them kicking ass later.

So the affiliations, alignment, their assets, and their stance toward the threat of evil are as follow:

Shadow Operative (Lawful Good, active, have no clue)

Investigation Team (Chaotic Good, active, have the clue but no man power)

Velvet Room (Neutral Good, passive, have the clue)

Elizabeth's Group (Neutral Good, passive, have no clue)

So we'll see more from Shadow Operative and Investigation Team more than the other two because their stance is in active.

The canon name of main protagonist for the upcoming Persona 3 movies had been confirmed; Makoto Yuki. Well, that was unexpectedly normal name. And since I'm kinda a canon-fag, I decide to use the name almost immediately, and change the female protagonist name to Mikoto for a twin theme naming because even though Makoto is a unisex name, Mikoto always ends up more feminine.

Speaking of canon, you might notice that I use several people from Persona X Detective, even though personally I don't think the novel is canon. Mostly from the thematic side, I think the characters are a form of cheap milking of the cash cow. Why can't you make Genesis has a Greek mythology Persona instead of Shinto like any other Anti-Shadow Weapons? Why throwing those Persona abilities and element that has nothing to their myth? Where are the Arcana? Why everyone seems to have a Persona nowadays like they came from a vending machine (maybe they were)?

So this fanfic will use a kind of selective canon, with many 'in spite of the nail' situations. So, the event in Persona X Detective never happen, but Genesis still met Naoto in one of her work. He also still have god of moon Persona, but of Greek mythology. I also have intention to add the Trinity Soul characters even though I'm a staunch believer that the thing is abomination for the aforementioned reasons; I think the characters were wasted for that anime.

I will add many things from the game like stats or level into the supplementary materials at the end of the chapters too.

And about those three that Mikoto dragged along from the Sea of Souls, that's a secret. I might drop some clue, but I won't say outright their identity anytime soon until one of you can guess it right. Individual guess is allowed, but don't blindly pin the donkey tail.

Here is the information for Nanako's Persona:

**Emma-Hoo**

The God of Hell; reigning over justice, revenge, and destruction. He, along with his sister, is the one who judge the soul of the sinners; he judges the male sinners, while his sister judge female sinners. A steadfast believer of equality before law, he punishes his charge according to their sins, though he usually portrayed as benevolent force even though destruction is his forte. He likes gifts and offerings, especially if it's gold, but don't ever think about bribing him because he will punish you even more severely.

He's a level 57 Persona of the Justice Arcana, and the initial Persona of Nanako Dojima. He becomes her Persona is because her own strong sense justice and her most precious people, her cousin and father, are handsome in rugged and manly way. Because her close connection with the testosterone-fueled household and her admiration to both men, she got the rare exception for the rule 'Persona has to be in a same gender as their host' and got a very manly Persona indeed.

His specializations are Agi and Physical, nulls both Agi and Mudo, reflects Garu, and weaks to Bufu. He also has a strong stance and center point, so it's almost impossible to knock down Nanako unless she was paralyzed by fear or dizziness first.


	3. Chapter 3

"It's getting nowhere…"

"**You are right…"**

"And you won't do anything about it? It's the Crawling Chaos we're talking about; I'm sure that even Lucifer will turn his head toward this matter."

"**It's true…"** the voice inside her head fidgeted, something that alarmed her immediately, **"But in this case, we're powerless to do anything significant mostly because…"** she trailed off at the end.

"… What are you hiding from me?"

They stood in the reanimation of the Hollow Forest, with both Ame-no-Sagiri and Kuni-no-Sagiri watched over the realm. Only when she came inside this small part of her mind does she realize that her consciousness was a clustered mess with these supernatural creatures inhabiting the place. The white haired woman in front of her looked pass her eyes' demanding gaze like she wasn't there. One thing that she hated from this woman was that she always thinks she had no other use besides being her pawn.

Even after all aspects of Izanami-no-Mikoto had fused inside her after her defeat at hands of the Seekers of Truth, Izanami still looked down upon her often. One of these days, she might snap at the supposed Goddess of Underworld. The white haired woman, face too much similar to this era's incarnation of her own twin and former mate, smiled solemnly at her.

"**You've grown so much…"**

The statement caught her off guard.

"**Just like that little Shadow, you show your bonds with those sons of man. Your desire to avenge them is genuine and your ego grows into one independent consciousness outside our own. You, in all way except one, are human."**

"Then…?" she stuttered, really didn't expect Izanami to say something like that, "Why it makes us powerless to do sometime? Why it makes _me_ powerless?"

"**You are me, and I am you… You surely know that."** Then she realized just what the woman in front of her was trying to imply.

"Are you saying that my ego is not strong enough to defy our function? That I'm not human enough because of your influence over me is still too anchoring?"

"**Yes. I have to say that you're too selfish for our collective cause, but what is human without being a little selfish? Unfortunately, it wasn't enough make any chance yet between us, because deep down you realize that we are one and the same after the fateful battle. That thought was the one that chained you down to own cause."**

"So I have to abandon you and both Sagiri here, in this Room? Unable to do anything because Philemon says so?"

"**I'm afraid yes. But this way, you can support the one that can chance the fate. This is a goodbye, but you won't see the last of me yet."** Marie smiled at the quip.

"Of course, you old hag. Good luck for you too."

Something shattered inside her psyche, complete with the sound of glass breaking. She concentrated, feeling that she might be surprised with the chance of tide. The blue mist replaced the yellow one, before thinning significantly into something more akin like a steam from a hotpot. The towering thing, black and white draped in what she can only described as red detached sleeves and haori, stood on its knee on the place where Izanami was been.

A voice, echoing and raw like it had been abused with several hours of screaming, spoke in her head as she winced in dismay.

**I am thou… Thou art I… From the sea of thy soul, I come… The Deceiver, Kusumi-no-Okami…**

"Of all things…" Marie sighed at the writhing figure covering her own bug-like face, "It has to be you…"

Nevertheless, she still stretched her hand toward the Persona.

"Come, we have a girl to cheer up."

The great figure removed her hands from her face, seemingly staring at the hand with awe and confusion. Marie shook her hand toward her, urging the thing that was possessed her to fight against her friends to accept her peace offering. Kusumi-no-Okami hesitated and finally relented for a moment so she could take the hand with her fingers.

"I just hope you stop trying to accidentally kill me."

**88888**

They were divided into two groups; the first group consisted of Mitsuru, Aigis, Junpei, and the team pet stayed in the Shirogane estate, while the second group consisted of Labrys, Akihiko, Yukari, and Fuuka went back to Inaba. The line-up somehow made Aigis a little suspicious, but she decided to speak only after the second group left the mansion.

"Is there any particular reason why you send Fuuka-san and my sister away to Inaba just to watch over Dojima-san, Mitsuru-san? I think we need every sensor type we have to search thoroughly this mansion while we can leave the bodyguarding duty to other personnel."

"It's true that we need Yamagishi for a deeper investigation, but Inaba is still the crime scene; the culprit might still be there."

"And my sister?"

"I need to make Labrys a little busy for awhile." Mitsuru murmured mostly to herself, but it was enough to catch even Junpei's attention.

"What do you mean senpai? Do you want to distract her from finding the follow up to the killer?"

"You did see her reaction when we found their bodies… She might do something rash that will endanger our entire operation. She was right when she said that she's an Inaba Persona-user; their stubbornness and tendencies to do something unexpected are really apparent on her."

"And if she finds anything that clues her of the killer in Inaba? Seriously, senpai… you can't really expect her to not finding anything sooner or later unless you really pull her out of this entire mess." Junpei said as he scratched Koromaru behind his ear as the Shiba Inu brought back another lawn decoration that he identified as 'evidence'. The maids of this house might throw a tantrum to them if they saw the mountain of junk that Koromaru had collected.

"I'm going to plan just that. Our enemy is not just the killer, but also those who threw Labrys to the TV World. Anything to distract her from her late friends." The redhead chuckled bitterly, "And here I thought bonds between friends could only make us stronger… Yuki must be rolling in his grave if he sees me like this."

"Mitsuru-san…" At times like this, Aigis realized just how bad she is at comforting people. She really brought shame to her fellow Fools, "Your responsibility is no longer just toward us. People in the Kirijo Group, the entire population who was in danger of getting attacked by Shadows, they became your responsibility when you decided to take up your father's place. Just let us help you as you helped us, and I'm sure my sister will understand your intention too."

Aigis was worried, for one reason or another.

"And that robot guy who called Aigis and Labrys his 'sisters', you both seem to know each other." Junpei asked as he tried to hide the piling gardening tools Koromaru brought inside a bush, only for his hand scratched by a mother cat whose litters and home were disturbed. Mitsuru sighed.

"The R-00 Generation of Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, the one was actually constructed to disable Aigis after she was deactivated in 1999. The Anti-Shadow Weapon that was created to stop another Anti-Shadow Weapon, all because the scientists of Kirijo Group were fearing the possibility of their own creations abandoning their directive after Labrys went berserk in Yakushima…"

"But his existence was a secret, and no record of him was left on the database. Not even Aigis knew about his existence. It doesn't mean I don't know anything about him; Father 'smuggled' him to Gekkoukan as my 'birthday present'."

"Then, that bike… when you said it was 'special', it was because it was an Anti-Shadow Weapon?"

"His Plume of Dusk was significantly smaller than any of previous models, so he was very slow at developing his ego. He was mostly unresponsive when under my care, opting to be in his bike form all the time. Father said that if we can keep him from going through with his directive, we can at least save both him and Aigis, even at cost of Genesis' emotions. Siblings shouldn't kill each other, after all."

Mitsuru's voice turned remorseful, "But every time I tried to talk with him, he never said anything back; only doing what I ordered him to. It was like he really was motorcycle. Sometimes I wondered if it was a right thing to do…"

"What happened to him after you graduated? I think you brought him with you?"

"Tsuge, one of the scientists that constructed him, took him away after the Kirijo Group saw that Aigis ended up successful. I didn't know what he did to Genesis, but I guess now I do. He might be hostile now, but at least his life is good enough for him to be hostile to begin with." Mitsuru combed her front curls away from her shoulder, "Still, I wonder what his connection with Shirogane was."

"Let us investigate her room. There might be a clue left." Aigis suggested, now positive that a certain android had eavesdropped the entire conversation. She didn't know what to make up from it, but she decided to not stopping the act so her brother could straighten up his own issue first.

The room was tidy and clean. A giant mahogany bookshelf nailed to the entire east wall, working desk with various unfinished case stacked into a tile, and a one persona bed. A truly masculine chamber, with minimum decoration except for several photos and perhaps the jarringly out of place handmade dolls.

Aigis curiously approached one of the dolls, a blue one with bug-like mask and clothes that she identified as 'Detective Conan-esque'.

"Sukuna-Hikona…" She took the doll in her hand, feeling up the stitches even though her fingers incapable of doing so, "For some reason… I had a feeling that Inaba Persona-users had a closer connection with their Persona."

"Shirogane made a doll of her Persona?" Mitsuru asked in confusion, before chuckling when she saw the almost spherical incarnation of one of the slimmest Persona exist, "It's adorable. I always think that Shirogane's Persona was a little disturbing, with those wide eyes that always watching over without blinking, but now it looks adorable."

"I can't believe a hard-boiled detective actually sew dolls." Junpei now came to take a closer look, "Not to mention this entire room looks too much a tomboy's for someone who had that kind of hobby."

"I heard Tatsumi's family had a textile shop, and himself knit dolls to sell them. Maybe it was him who made the doll."

"The doll was not that well made for someone who made this for his source of income. Some traces of blood marked that the tailor wasn't that skilled at the time this doll was made."

"So it was Shirogane-san, huh? Really unexpected…"

"Junpei-san, what we learned from our encounter with the Investigation Team is that they were not as they looked. The stoic Yu-san turned out to have a dependency issue and a very strange sense of humor, the cheerful Rise-san that didn't want her identity to be faked into, the best of friends Yukiko-san and Chie-san who had hidden resentment toward each other." Mitsuru nodded in agreement.

"It was almost thematic; their Shadow turf showed the reflection of themselves in their worst, and that's why they were so good at picking up hints. They were forced to see that they were not like how they perceived themselves, and forced to realize that other people was also that way. They might look like a bunch of rowdy and cheerful students, but they were absolutely cynics and prone of harsh words when dealing with people they perceived as deluding themselves, including themselves."

"And this Shadow turf is the TV World, right? If we go to the TV World, would we be forced to go through what they had gone through?"

"It seems that only those without Persona will provoke their Shadow to attack them. As Persona and Shadow are the same, like Narukami had explained, the only way to face our Shadow is if we denied our Persona and let them turn into Shadow." Junpei suddenly threw his arms up like he wanted Mitsuru to stop.

"Wa-Wait a frickin' second. Since when did the 'Personas are Shadow' thing exist? I mean, seriously?! Personas are Shadows? I never heard anything like that!"

"They said that Persona and Shadow are just two sides of a same coin; personification of our psyche that materialized through strong emotion. Persona is a mask that we use to protect ourselves from outside threat, while Shadow is the side that we repressed. When a Shadow was tamed and acknowledged, there's no longer anything that is hidden, and the Shadow turned into Persona."

"It was always that way, and our method of summoning our Persona, to be honest, was inefficient compared to their method. When we fought them in P1 Grand Prix, all the initial Inaba Persona-users were using their initial Personas, not their ascended. And they fought us to many draws; with the times they decided to pull out the big guns, they defeated us soundly with almost no resistance."

"They… were holding back?"

"They knew they were going to fight their friends, so they limit themselves to their initial Personas to slightly damp the damage they would do. Or… at least that's how Chie-san said it."

"Aigis," Now Mitsuru had pulled out of the doll fluffing, she had opened a laptop that was hidden not long ago under the desk. The Kirijo head motioning Aigis toward her, and the android complied, "Do you think you can hack through the password?"

"Let's see what I can do."

Several cables connected to her wrists, and Aigis delved deep into the circuit. The Anti-Shadow Weapon chuckled to herself.

"When Fuuka-san said that Naoto-san is quite into the gadgetry, I didn't know it's also extended to computer modifications," suddenly her tone of voice turned dark, "Here I thought their jest about scrapping me and my sister was just… a jest."

A small *ding* sound marked her successful prying as the Windows opened up the front. The desktop background of the laptop was a photo of the Investigation Team's after their one year separation, with Marie as the new addition. Aigis, still connected through the cables, searched through the entire memory of the computer that might clue her with anything.

"A personal report of her investigation…" Aigis narrowed her eyes when she scanned a paragraph, "The Crawling Chaos…?"

**88888**

She kept reading.

_29/01 2013_

_The Crawling Chaos, better known as Nyarlathotep, is an entity of Lovecraft's Chtulhu Mythos. But in this world's case, it was a personification of the entire mankind's desire for evil. In short, the humanity's enemy no. 1. I would say that a fictional abomination as the source of all evil sounds quite ridiculous, if not for several records that saying Lovecraft was a Persona-user._

_Kei Nanjo had confirmed that Nyarlathotep had been defeated by Sumaru's band of Persona-users almost 15 years ago, but the exact detail of the clash was lost even to him. Something about alternate universe being retconned out of the history, but it was clear that clash had left the victors empty of the recollection of the event._

_The only one left that could gave us the answer, didn't cooperate._

_4/02 2013_

_I really hope we do the right thing. With all those vague analogies that the butterfly masked man had spouted since the beginning, I had a feeling that this one will also no different._

_I just want for this issue to be dealt with before the planned date. I miss wearing that ring on my finger._

Nanako knew that Naoto had never had the chance.

**The Thousand Face, Nyarlathotep… a difficult opponent, indeed…**

"Emma-hoo, do you think we can win this?"

**No. Nyarlathotep hast power to change the rule of cause and effect, possession over mind, Shadow replications, and shapeshifting. We're fighting the entire humanity's evil when we are against him, and to be honest, we're not going to survive the first encounter.**

"What about this 'butterfly masked man'? Is he the one who pulled the strings of Big Bro?"

**Most likely; all Persona-users are, by nature, His Children. He was the one who grantst Persona for those who had tamed their Shadow, as reward and as protection against evil. He was the one who we may not spoke the name of**, **so please referst to** **him as the Blue Butterfly.**

"Where is he?"

**In the last clash against Nyarlathotep, He dwelled inside a secret dimension where His servants keep supporting all the Persona-users. The Velvet Room, a place between conscious and unconscious, dream and reality, accessible by those who were granteth key of the Room. But the battle hath draineth both Him and the Crawling Chaos of their power**, **and no one knows where He is right now.**

"So… no one knows… But Nao-nee-chan said that she met with him inside the Room, it means he has come back to the Room in this moment. What I need is the key, and the speech that I have to use to persuade him to give me more power for the fight."

**More power to punish the sinner…**

"That's right. I'm just a newborn Persona-user; no match at all to the others. And we have no time to wait for the power to seek me out. With the TV World still in dangerous situation, I don't think we can explore the place to find a way to train against the Shadow threat."

Nanako hid the book under her mattress, while carrying the glasses and the knife under her clothes. She decided to take a walk, leaving the house to her sleeping drunken father before locking the front door. Since her acceptance of Emma-hoo, she could see many swirls of power came from almost everywhere. The thin blue mist, unseen and unable to be sensed except by her. People came and went, without care of the swirling mist. Maybe there are that could see them too, Nanako thought.

The town was filled with the mist. The school, the shopping district, and Junes were strongest of the sources; the place that they often hanged out in.

But then she felt it.

An alien presence swirled between the familiar ones.

Hesitantly, she thought of the possibility. It can be either hostile or not, but no way to make sure of it without turning toward the source. If it was hostile, then she couldn't run.

She decided to turn toward her would be assailant.

A blond man, tall and pale-skinned with icy blue eyes. He stared at his pocket watch, pulled from his purple suit's breast pocket, seemingly waiting for something to come to him. Those cold eyes suddenly turned toward her, and she froze like a deer in headlight.

"Excuse me, you lady," the man said with a gentlemanly tone. His voice was clear, almost melodious, but the slight edge in it made Nanako caution. "I'm looking for my son. Do you know a young boy with the same blond hair as I am?"

"Your son… got lost?"

"No, not lost. Run away from home is the more suitable saying. I was too harsh to him, and he was in his teenage stubbornness."

"I see…" Nanako hesitating, "But the only blond I know in this town had passed away not long ago."

The man's eyes went wide. A genuine surprise, and with slight indignation sprinkled on the top.

"What do you mean?" his voice suddenly went guarded. She decided to tell him everything she knew about the murder, but omitting several clues that she had found. The man let out a small "I see…" before smiling down at her.

"Thank you for informing me of this matter. I shall go and try to identify if this little one was really my boy."

"You're welcome…"

"Say, since you have been so kind to me, you may call me anytime when you need my help. I'll something that might ease your problem…"

"Ah!" Nanako jolted back at the straight-forward offer, "I'm sorry, but I don't think that would be necessary."

"I insist." The man said as he gave the young girl his business card, "Call me whenever you need help. But I can only help you once, remember that."

"Thank you very much."

"I will see you again, little girl."

He walked toward the general direction of the police station. His entire presence seemed to drain out of the surrounding, leaving no trace of that strange swirl of power. Nanako frowned; the way his presence disappearing was almost unnatural. She then looked down on the card. It was real, genuine card made of plastic, with the writing engraved into the card.

But the man's name really made her uneasy.

Louise Cipher.

"Nanako-chan!" she heard a woman's voice shouted her name. She turned toward the voice, and saw the weather forecaster run up to her with a slight out of breath.

"Nanako-chan…" Marie gripped her shoulders a little tighter than needed, "We need to talk."

When the second group of the Shadow Operative arrived in Inaba from their train travel, Nanako Dojima was no longer in the town.

**88888**

Five figures in black robes stood inside the Velvet Room, in front of the man whose face covered in a brownish yellow butterfly mask. The man raised a delicate eyebrow at the four spirits and an Animus, a bit taken back at the line-up. The hunched man with his iconic long nose stared harshly at the white haired woman, shaking his head in disapproval.

"_You want to revive the Seal?"_ the masked man carefully baited.

"Is it that difficult to accomplish?" Elizabeth shot back, which earned her an even harsher gaze from her master, "We have proof that the will of few can hold back the entire humanity's desire without resorting the complete sacrificial of a soul, why can't we do the same to the Great Seal?"

"Your dear guest had chosen his path," Igor started it slow, "But it was matter of capability of his own spirit that matter in his release of his burden."

"His soul had bounded with the Death too deeply to release itself from the Seal. On the other hand, he also wasn't deeply connected with his own core, making the Death influence in him stronger than his own desire to be free from the Seal, whether he knew or did not know about the possibility that he could do just that."

"_As long as Makoto Yuki does not will himself to be free from his burden, he will never be free. It was always that way with him, with the contract that he had written with the Death."_ The masked man finished.

"He's no longer conscious, even though his soul is bound into the Seal. How we're supposed to do to make him realize that he doesn't have to take all burdens himself?" The other Wild Card of Iwatodai snarled, feeling the statement hit too close to home, "Are you telling me that it's impossible to release him from the Seal?"

"_It's not impossible, just very convoluted."_

"Then let us meet with the one who drove back deceit in humanity's hearts." Elizabeth said after mulling it over, "He, and his bands, was the one who taught me the true power of Wild Card, that bonds can do things that was thought to be impossible. If it's true that our guest doesn't have bear the burden of being the Seal alone, then he will-"

"You can't." Igor cut her off, "Yu Narukami, along with the entire members of the Seekers of Truth, was killed in their quest against the Crawling Chaos."

Shiver run down Elizabeth's spine.

"W-What…?"

"_It's true that they were the one who hold back Izanami-no-Okami with the sheer presence of their ego, and they still do. Their ego survived when their body didn't, but it was for that reason they could not be saved right now."_ The masked man slightly slumped in his seat, eyes closed.

"_The Crawling Chaos had his grip on them."_

A collective gasp and a shared look.

"_Those with strong ego, also come with strong Shadow. When a Shadow was defeated and kept getting denied, it will disappear before come back stronger than ever from their wandering. It was no different with the Persona; they get stronger from every trial they faced."_

"And Persona still can turn back into Shadow?" the red haired girl stuttered in disbelieve, while her Persona's voice let put a small whine of discontent inside her head.

"_Yes, the true strength of a Persona is its host's enlightment of their Shadow. When that enlightment is gone, there's only Shadow left. Indeed, Shadow is not synonymous with evil, like one of you do proved,"_ the last member of the misfits stiffened, _"But it's the negative emotion that is most likely being suppressed inside and turned into Shadow, which itself is the domain of the Crawling Chaos."_

"He killed the Seekers of Truth to gain control of their Shadow…"

"_Exactly. The only reason why the fog of Inaba has not turned everyone into Shadow after the Seekers of Truth had been disabled is because Izanami dislikes the Crawling Chaos' action of disturbing humanity directly instead of through manipulation. Killing Persona-users without using a gambit first is forbidden among us."_

"That's screwed up," the sole male of Elizabeth's group growled from inside his throat, "Are we nothing but pawn to you?"

"_Humanity is but a slave of their own mind. And since we are the personification of humanity's aspect of consciousness, you can pretty much guess our reason of why. We're not going to seek excuses, but it can't be helped."_

"Excuse me…"

They stared the intruder, suddenly appeared in the middle of the seating masked man and Igor, sitting leisurely on the limo's seat. They went into a slightly more guarded stance, with Elizabeth visibly bristled. The man smiled a slightly sad smile as he unclasped his hands from the small table in front of the Velvet Room inhabitants' seat, blue lighting of the Room made his purple suit looked a shade lighter.

"If it's not too inconvenient for you, I would like to hear about this 'Crawling Chaos' business. I think he has stolen a precious asset of mine, and I intent to take him back."

**88888**

She panted heavily, falling to her knees in unison with her Persona's mount. Her head felt so burdening; no matter how hard she tried to look up to her opponent, she couldn't even stared up to her eyes. The woman in front of her scoffed, "Where's that previous bravado? Don't you want to be stronger?"

**More power… **Her Persona hissed, and through determination of both of them, they went back to their feet.

Nanako gulped the collecting saliva that almost dribbled down her chin when a strike found its way to Emma-hoo's gut. She has to ask him if they could lessen their synchronization a little bit so she won't KO'd with just one strike. Her grip on the red and black knife tightened; something that made the woman in front of her frowned.

"I thought you have enough."

"It needs… more than this…" But even though she said that, she panicked slightly in her head.

'Emma-hoo, do you know anything to beat the big one?'

**It seemst that the Persona immunest toward all except for Almighty, and we do not have anything to exploit that weakness.**

'Seriously…?'

**Isn't that the point? The broad issued such conditions because she was the incarnation of the Great Mother out to be your salvation. Uh… talk about Oedipal; this kind of situation really maketh me uncomfortable.**

'What do you mean?'

**I'm still her son, after all.**

A bolt of red lightning struck Emma-hoo right on his chest, knocking him off his horse. The great mare neighed and kicked up her front hooves as Nanako fell on her rear, vision swimming and turning dark. Dark, as a giant fist preparing to flattened her into mush.

Emma-hoo swung his mace, charged with previous concentration before it broke. It was almost too late, but he slapped the claws before it slammed into ground. The swing, on the other hand, really made him off-balance for not having a good footing, a weak spot that this feral Persona had enough reasoning of to take advantage of. Her free clawed hand sped pass the disabled one, jamming four digits down his throat. Nanako choked at the unseen force that blocked her wind pipe, before being brought lying to her back.

From her position, she still could see her opponent clutching her head in pain.

"Should we take a break or what?"

"N-No! I still can fight!"

"Don't speak nonsense! When I said I will train you, I don't mean the fly-or-die kind of training! I still need some moment to get used with the pain again." There was something strange from the statement.

"Marie-chan…?" the woman hummed, "Why summoning Kusumi-no-Okami gives you headache? I can summon Emma-hoo without that kind of pain."

"She's in a constant state of 'intoxicated' from our previous tussle. Might never subside until I and her make up."

"Why not making up now?"

"I can't." her eyes turned downcast, "Not when I'm still this way…"

"Marie-chan…"

Nanako finally gave up on trying to even sitting. Her eyes were watching the starless sky. Was it even a sky, and instead just a very tall ceiling? Who can even think that a TV can become a portal to other world anyway? When you see other side of something, your entire vision of that something can no longer be the same. And then you start to grow suspicious of everything, thinking that they have something hidden from you. All of them.

She remembered, once her father said something about being disappointed and felt failed by. The love and trust turned into hatred, and all is history. But her father also said that even though it was hard to be lied on, it was the one-who-been-lied-to's decision whether the trust turned into hatred.

She chuckled softly. For some reason, her thought went flying out of control. Why would she think that someone will betray her? Everyone she knew was good people.

Flawed, but good people.

"Here."

She was tossed a bottle full of water by Marie, with the bottle landed on her belly in a slight heavy thud. Their respective Personas had returned to their consciousness, and only tiredness remained. Nanako accepted the hospitality graciously.

"What is this place anyway? It doesn't look like the TV World."

"A different part between conscious and unconscious, a similar place as the Velvet Room. This is the place where the last attendant of that Room fought Yu in her attempt to knock some sense into him. I borrow this place from the Velvet Room's proprietor for the very reason of training you."

"Why?"

"So you won't jump head first into danger at sight of the one who killed Yu and others like a certain someone had expected you to do."

"'The one who pulled the strings'?"

"No, the one who killed Yu." Marie took a moment of silence, "You think he can't be trusted?"

"Who? 'The one who pulled the string'?"

"Em… yeah. That a bit mouthful, don't you think? Just call him the Blue Butterfly."

"He was the one who sent Big Bro and others to their death. And from how it seems, he withheld information."

"It's not like he had a choice. Those in Lawful fraction are all about rules, which is why it was such a big surprise that his opponent, the killer, decided to break the rule and shot them dead outright. That behavior is uncalled for… But if it was him, then it was actually very in-character of him. And very out of character of him to be in the Lawful fraction to begin with."

"He wasn't supposed to do that? Then…?"

"I guess he's desperate to win. I heard he was sealed before after losing twice again some Persona-users, but not after he won the second encounter first." Marie laughed a little, "But it was another story all together."

The black-haired woman then carefully watched the young girl, gauging her reaction. Nanako looked curious with the story, but at the same time, she seemed to be confused. Marie hummed, understood that the politics, especially those from Abrahamic and Loveratian fractions, might be too difficult to comprehend. She had to wonder, why is it has to be this girl?

Was it because of fate?

Damn this reincarnation bullshit!

"Fighting Gods, huh…?" Nanako whispered before closing her eyes into a dreamless sleep.

**Chapter 3 Ends**

**88888**

Old-fashioned teacher sometimes really give everyone pain in ass, and it shows. How come a media discourse lecturer can't comprehend that visual novel is just an interactive movie? Her title is become questionable.

School aside, this new chapter is really hard to put into. In next two weeks, I'm going out of town for field work, and I have delayed constructing my presentation and drafts because of sever boredom. Even though the deadline is near, I can't help but to write some fanfiction before going to sleep.

In this chapter, many concept from the entire MegaTen series comes out. The main highlight is the alignment system. Though usually the MegaTen only use the Law-Neutral-Chaos alignment for determining the racial morality, as you can see from previous chapter author note, I used the D&D styled alignment system. Mostly because of the massive fridge logic and dissatisfaction from how the Old Ones of Lovecraftian myth become Lawful when they had been established in the myth as 'chaotic entity' while the heroic, nation-building deity Okuninushi becomes Chaos.

So the D&D alignment system becomes the main morality gauge of this fanfic because even though they manifest as Gods, they still came of out of human's psyche in the Persona series so the 'blue and orange morality' excuse is invalid, thought they still have rules decided among themselves over their involvement to humanity's lives. In a way, they were more like the Serpent who can only seduce Adam and Eve into eating the Fruit of Knowledge than the Greek Pantheon who can screw with any mortal they wish; they can't directly do the deed.

Mostly the things that I'm disturbed of because of no explanation whatsoever will get some kind of justification that either thoroughly planned or pulled out of my rear depends on the situation, so I try to do my best so there's no glaring plot hole. If you think that there's something that isn't click in your head, then you can ask me anytime.

A familiar face from the MegaTen has arrived. Louise Cipher is a very famous figure, along with Alice, Mara, and maybe Matador, for making quite an impression in the fandom. I mean, how badass a naked man can be if you're not Lucifer? That asset he spoke of is quite obvious, I think… After all those mass guessing, I assume that people are familiar with the fact that Lucifer can turn into many incarnations, and this asset is no different from him.

And… yeah, Naoto was engaged. That silver band she wears on her neck in the Golden's epilogue is making quite a stir in me. Should I tell you who is the lucky guy or no? Well, it's not that important right now, so it will take a backseat. Sorry shippers.

Jungian psychoanalysis is fun.

Now for the status report:

**Shadow Operative:**

Lawful Good. Active. Divided into two groups; the first group found the clue, the second group failed the mission.

**Investigation Team**

Chaotic Good. Passive. Marie officially joined the party, changing the group's stance over the case into passive to train Nanako.

**Velvet Room**

Neutral Good. Passive. Marie divided from Izanami and leaves the party, Izanami joins the party, Lucifer and Elizabeth's group confronted the inhabitants.

**Elizabeth Group**

Neutral Good. Passive. Finally found out about the case, but stuck in making the next decision.

It's visible that Elizabeth's ragtag was the one that is the most ignorant of the plot; but again when it's clear that their objective doesn't concerned with the plot, it's justified.

Marie's Persona information is as follow:

**Kusumi-no-Okami**

Formally known as Kumano Kusubi, he was the shapeshifting God of Mountain. Born when Amaterasu and Susanoo birthed children from each other's treasure, Kumano Kusubi was born along with his four older brothers when Susanoo bit and blew the pieces of Amaterasu's Magatama necklace. But later tales narrate that after Susanoo was banished because of his delinquent attitude toward, well… just about everyone, he later died as a mortal. His body buried in a mountain and his spirit transformed into a bear. Nowadays, the name Kumano Kusubi (and the shrines that honors him) becomes synonymous with Susanoo.

Kusumi-no-Okami is a level 46 Persona of Aeon Arcana, and the initial Persona of Mariko "Marie" Kusumi. She's in a constant status of enraged, and attacking with sloppy hand swipes and ground pounds. Her irremovable skill Draining Fog will damage Marie to the point of physical deterioration, chaotic nature of her attack pattern makes her possible to spam the Draining Fog several times in row, and simply summoning her will induce extreme pain like Strega does. On the other hand, she reflects all elements except Almighty and almost all of her skills cause status ailment like paralyze and dizzy.

Don't ask why Kusumi-no-Okami is a female in Persona 4 Golden except for the excuse of the whole 'shapeshifting' God thing.


	4. Chapter 4

The barbed wires that bind her body into the golden gate were not the only thing she didn't miss from her previous domain. Her time as the Great Seal was idle and lonely. There was neither sound nor creature she could converse with. Well, except for those two. Nyx and Erebus, they were always with her. But it wasn't her that they after, as she was nothing but a barrier for their goal. From both sides of the gate, their fists and bodies slammed into her domain like sledgehammer, and each time tremor made those barbed wires dug deeper into her skin.

Their voices, howling their longing and assurance that they would definitely reunite, made her heart broken even more. The brother and sister, the husband and wife, her father and mother. Between these titans of destruction and death, who would not want anything but to be together again, she never felt that being a protector of humanity could make her this guilty. It was necessary, but with the faces of those she had to separate forever always swirled in her head, it was hard to not feel guilty. Not only Nyx and Erebus, but also her friends.

She was all-seeing, but not all-powerful. She saw just what happened to her friends, and she could only see. They fell apart, with the gaping hole that was her made a giant chasm they unable to cross. Aigis and Yukari were the worse of them, every time they cried their eyes out made even Erebus' tugs felt nothing but a mosquito bite, not that it was better to be so.

Then, the Abyss of Time happened. The regret and sorrow of her friends trapped them in a timeless space, and they started to fight among each other when Yukari refused to surrender her key just so they could honor her, their field leader, death. Truly, she's a Lover Arcana and Isis' host.

The other S.E.E.S differed with their view also. Junpei was upset with the fighting, and through his opinion was not so different with Akihiko, Akihiko deemed that Junpei was not decisive with what he would do with his key. Aigis, meanwhile as the new Fool and automatically called as the field leader, was the one who indecisive, prompting Yukari to demand her key. The conflict broke their team worse than the time when their resentment that was thrown back and forth between the members.

The S.E.E.S separated into four; Aigis was supported by her Shadow Metis and Fuuka. Junpei was initially with Koromaru, but Chidori came to his aid even though she was incapable of remembering him. Trismegistus was separated into two Personae once more, but Junpei's resolve to be a better man was unshakable; Hermes ascended into Poemandres. Shinjirou, who had awaken from his coma, supported Akihiko and Ken to destroy the key.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Yukari and Mitsuru instead came as the victor.

And the rest went like a blur. Yukari forced the other to come back to the time when she became the Seal to stop her sacrifice. Her time as the Seal made her an omnipresent being, and her memory was not wiped out when the Abyss turned back the time.

When they broke through the pressure Nyx had imposed with her arrival and gripped her body to prevent her leaving the Tartarus, she could only mutter two words.

"You idiots!"

Nyx's call was absolute, and inside her soul was her son Thanatos. Thanatos answered his mother's lament, and she, Mikoto Yuki, succumbed into Nyx's embrace to bring forth the Fall.

In the end, she was not saved.

The time she opened her eyes, she was again a small candle flame amidst countless more. Her second lifetime was ended with her becoming the Nyx Avatar and damning that world into eternal night. But in this room, the place where she could indulge herself in the sea of her soul and speak with her other facets of psyche, she found out that Nyx's arrival was nothing but a farce made by 'All Evil in the World'.

"Are you telling me that the Crawling Chaos manipulated Nyx and Erebus into bringing down the Fall?"

"_More precisely, he manipulated humanity to force Nyx and Erebus' duty toward themselves."_

"In short, he made humanity as the whole suicidal."

"_Yes. But it should be noted, it wasn't the first time Nyx was to bring forth the Fall by the Crawling Chaos. In 1996, Nyx who was better known as the Night Queen wished to answer two individuals' wish for destruction and called upon the 'eternal night', but was stopped by the Persona-users of Mikage-cho."_

"Mikage-cho…" the sole male of the ragtag group muttered, "I heard from Mitsuru that before the Kirijo Group separated the Nanjo Group, the main facility of the corporation was in Mikage-cho and most of the experiment with the Shadow came from the Nanjo Group's experience with them and the ensuing clash with SEBEC over the matter."

"So you can way that someone from Nanjo Group was one of those who defeat Nyx before?"

"Not just anyone." the red-haired girl cut Mikoto fast, "The very head of the Nanjo Group, Kei Nanjo, was one of those guys. People in Kirijo Group sometimes said that SEBEC's head in Mikage was the one who made the project of artificial Persona-users and awaken the Crawling Chaos, which in turn awaken Nyx for the Fall. Nanjo and his schoolmates then defeated Nyx before destroying SEBEC's experiment with the Shadow."

"_Unfortunately, the Crawling Chaos survived the encounter and spread his influence over the humanity, and not just one or two person like he previously did, the entirely of them. Before he was defeated in 1999, he would choose an avatar that he would use as a host to execute his will as a compensation for acting actively in this bet, but now it seems that he had adapting my method as his modus operandi."_

"And killing those Inaba kids has anything to do with that?"

"_The Inaba Persona-users were the one who have closest connection with the Sea of the Souls. They were all perfectly in synch with their Persona even though they had never visited the Sea personally, and their Persona was exceptionally strong even in their initial form because of that. On the other hand, their Shadow was also as strong, and with them killed, their ego was too incomplete to anchor their Persona from reverting back into Shadow."_

"And it could happen to Mitsuru and the others?"

"_Yes."_

Mikoto grimaced at the possibility.

"So that's what happened inside the TV…"

She turned to Elizabeth, who suddenly mumbled out what she had been thinking. It was a rare sight for her to keep silent for that long, but the revelation of an eldritch killing the Persona-users made her inattentive of that detail.

"Inside the TV?"

"Yes. In the last Golden Week, your comrades investigated the Shadow world Inaba people called the Midnight Channel and they met those Persona-users of Inaba there. Someone had controlled the Shadow of one of Aigis' sisters," the most silent of the group again stiffened, "And planned to do the same with the other's Shadow. I was just passing through; but the experience was superbly precious, with me gaining the Fool Arcana from my meeting with the Fool of Inaba."

"The Crawling Chaos is really aiming for the Shadow…"

"What we will do now? Our goal wasn't to stop this… thing from killing everyone, but there's no way in hell I would let him do as he pleased."

"Do you have to ask? We'll kick Nyarly's tentacled ass, and still restore my 'brother' along the way. Hearing accomplishments of our sempai and kohai shamed me like no tomorrow." The auburn-haired girl turned to her partner in crime, "Hey, Liz. I know it's a little bit out of focus than your goal, but-"

"Say no more. I too personally have a bone to pick with the Crawling Chaos after what he did to the Seekers of Truth, so as you say, knocking two barrels down with one stone… or was it bottles? Bandanas?"

They all shook their head in exasperation, especially Igor.

**88888**

Labrys slammed her fist to a nearby railing, leaving the steel bended and irreparable.

"Don't tell me that Nanako-chan is…"

"Labrys…"

Said android slapped the hand away from her shoulder. Yukari pulled her hand back, slight hurt expression from both the slap and the reaction made Labrys lowered her head in guilt.

"Sorry…"

"I understand. Maybe she just went out of the house for a moment, don't worry about it."

"You're right."

The android then sat on the railing that she not yet bended, her thigh made some scrapping noises when contacted the steel. They were in the riverside of the small town, Samegawa was it name, said Labrys. The place where you can challenge the Guardian of the River for the Hermit Arcana's enlightment, it was the greatest arowana mortal could fish. Yukari raised an eyebrow.

"And you know this from…?"

"Yu-san caught the fish to find an old lady's comb. He stayed up late and in a rainy day just to find it. It was a memento, he said, and he shared his other catches to his friends after that in a bonfire."

"Sounds fun."

"Yeah… I was not there at the time, though. Still sleeping inside some box somewhere… When I was lookin', Yu-san told me the story and we went fishin' in this riverbank. I kinda short-circuited when I accidentally fell into water and Mitsuru-san scolded him for the entire evening."

They both shared a laugh.

"That sounds like Mitsuru, alright."

But the laughter quickly turned slightly bitter.

"I just wish that they won't be gone this fast. Or this bloodily…"

"One thing that can happen to a person, yours is something that I can sympathize real well."

"Yukari-san…?"

"We lost someone we hold dear too, you know. Though, I'd say that we're lucky that he passed on in relative peace. Someone like Yu-san and the others to you. And I almost made his sacrifice for nothing if your sister didn't knock some sense into me, and showed just what he made the sacrifice for."

"Huhm… your boyfriend, Yukari-san?"

"What?" Yukari was flustered at the question, before laughing a small bitter giggle, "I wish he look at me that way. Mitsuru-san, Fuuka, and Aigis, I'm also sure that think that way too."

"Ah, unrequited love…" Labrys felt a little awkward talking some of the most private matter in women's life, or at least that was how Rise described it, "Still, do ya think this place is beautiful?" she then scolded herself in her thought as Ariadne barely held her laughter, what a lame change of topic. Nevertheless, Yukari nodded.

"Maybe the boonies' not half bad. You can think many things in the quiet and idle place like this."

"After all of this mess is over, let's go fishing in this river too."

"Hhm… I would like that."

They heard some footsteps and saw Akihiko and Fuuka had come back from their search through the shopping district. The boxer crossed his arms and sat on the railing, looked a little more fumed than before he left.

"Those old timers are quite bull-headed…" Fuuka cleared her throat to chide him.

"It's more like they are hiding something. I have a feeling that they know something about Inaba's case more than what it looks, for example… the fact that the Investigation Team was the one who caught the culprit?"

"Amada still isn't back yet?"

"No, Senpai." Akihiko sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. His hair had grown longer that the scar at his temple had been covered.

"We still need to compare notes with Mitsuru's group, we don't need for someone to get lost in the town!"

"Calm down, Akihiko-senpai. How about we compare note among each other for now?" Yukari sighed at Akihiko's usual hastiness. Training in the wild for several years made him almost looked like a caveman, and his already below average social skill made him act like it also. "So we know that the townspeople hide something about the Inaba case, and the fact that the real culprit of the case was escaped from prison. So, what conclusion we can make out from it?"

"That the townspeople hid the real culprit from the police?" Labrys scratched her head in confusion. That was just so wrong in many levels. Yukari, who seemed to just notice it, face palmed.

"That's… not exactly what I wa- Fuuka? What is it?"

The resident sensor was staring at her right, eyes blank like every time she dived deep into her Persona's sight.

"There were several Persona-users, right there." She pointed at the nearby junction, "They don't seem to be hostile, just passing through this road like they are on vacation." She was hesitant before adding, "One of them carries both Orpheus and Thanatos."

Suddenly everyone's, except Labrys who only tilted her head in confusion, full attention. They turned their head so fast, Labrys feared that they might snap their necks, toward the general direction Fuuka had pointed. Several people rounded the corner fast, leaving none of the small group to catch a glimpse of their faces.

"I have a feelin' that this host of Orpheus and Thanatos was your already-passed-on Wild Card, am I wrong?"

**88888**

"I feel tacky…"

"Stop complaining. We can't exactly choose either."

"My master created me and my siblings with this same substance. It's , of course, more durable than ordinary human flesh, and it doesn't really need the more substantial need of living organism like eating or breathing."

"But we still can do those things, right?"

"Yes. But be careful. Even though it's more durable, it doesn't mean that we cannot die while inside these bodies. It's just but a flesh, after all…"

"I don't want to die for a third time before I see my goal comes truer than humanity having a universal death wish."

"Well said, Mikoto! Just like the time where you almost punched a girl for slapping Hasegawa."

"… Eh?! You know about that?"

"It was quite a ruckus even after your 'death'. Then Hasegawa was transferred, everyone was talking about the entire scene you made in the announcement room and how her parents were shamed for accusing and not listening to her."

"That's…"

"… Everyone, I think we're being followed."

Mikoto almost turned to see behind her back before the redhead stopped her. She then motioned her to keep walking and act as ordinary as possible. Difficult, with their dark and thick coats were more conspicuous than elephant in a living room. The redhead clicked her tongue.

"Your friends… this world's version of them at least."

"Aki?"

"Also Fuuka-chan, Yukari, and this one android that I've never seen before."

"…Do you think it's the 'other sister'?"

The quietest of them finally spoke her first sentence since they came back to this world. Mikoto only shrugged at the answer, though she visibly lightened up at the finally defrosting girl.

"It seems so. Where else you can find a robot here?"

"Should we shake them off?"

"Preferably fast."

"On my mark…"

Akihiko run ahead the others, something was telling him that his fear was justified. He run another corner, and saw that his targets were disappeared into thin air. His surprised expression slowly changed into one that was anger.

"Shit!"

He punched some poor soul's wall until a portion of it collapsed. Labrys quickly closed the distance and searched around the vicinity.

"They're just… gone. They ought to know that we're following them."

"Does it matter now?"

"Akihiko-san?"

"Dammit… I get ahead of myself again…"

The other two women came to their sides several moments later, each had run out of their breaths. Yukari was opening her mouth for some tongue lashing, but she was silenced by the sound of her phone. Begrudgingly, she answered it.

"What is it Mitsuru-san?"

"We should regroup now. How's the search?"

"Nanako Dojima had disappeared in her room before we arrive, but we learned something from the townspeople and I think we have a bunch of Persona-users stalk this town."

"What?" then the woman in the other side of the phone seemed to mull over something. Yukari imagined that the red-haired woman shook her head in her attempt to refocus, "It doesn't matter when we're not regrouping now. We found out something that makes my grandfather's actions in the past seem trivial. We'll meet you in Junes."

Before she could answer, Mitsuru cut the connection short. She frowned at her phone.

'Something that made my father's death seems trivial?'

She sighed and turned toward her teammates to inform them of their meeting place. But one last thing that prevented them to regroup was still not yet had the solution of.

"Where the hell is Amada?"

**88888**

"It's clear that Nyarlathotep was the one who orchestrated the rise of Nyx and Izanami after the sealing by one Tatsuya Suou."

"… It's worrying. When I heard that the Kirijo Group had stolen the blueprint of artificial Persona-users from Kandori's vault, they already built the facilities of the 5th Generation of Anti-Shadow Weapon. Their work had gripped too much influence when I realized it, and now with Takeharu had passed away, only Mitsuru had the real authority to disband those projects. You see the problem, no?"

"She's way too ignorant of her own corporation, so yes. But despite her track record, she really means well of everything she'd done. Her refusal to deactivate Aigis and Labrys is because-"

"I know that. But still, we don't need any deception goes into the ears of the remaining Persona-users. The fact that the human ally of the Crawling Chaos went unnoticed from her radar despite of being in her organization marks that she was incompetent. How much trouble we went through to capture that person, evading the investigation using the Shadow Operatives as shield?"

The young man gritted his teeth. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. Because he knew exactly what the man had implied. He was the one who capture that 'Eerie Voice' that highjacked Labrys and threw her into the Midnight Channel, acting as the eye of his superior of the inside of the Shadow Operative. His loyalty toward the rest of the S.E.E.S had nothing to do with the fact that Kirijo was the one who responsible, was the one to blame for being so weak-willed that the Crawling Chaos could tempt him into his embrace, and was the one who everyone should fend the frustration off for being simply an unwitting pawn.

Not that he was any better in the last part.

The man in front of him had softened his expression, but his interlocking fingers marked that he still not finished with the matter.

"Amada, try to understand the situation…"

"I know what our situation is! It's just… going behind Mitsuru-san after what she had done to me, disparaging her intentions for being ineffective, it's just… I don't know what to way…"

"Huhm… maybe it is I who should understand more…"

"Nanjo-san?"

Kei Nanjo stood from his stool, the metal chair shrieked loudly against the concreted floor. His visage was both graceful and noble but not demeaning, far cry from the insufferable and arrogant image of his youth. But that jarring print of '#1' on his scarf on the somewhat pricy-tailored suit was hard to miss even from Iwatodai.

"I will talk with Mitsuru, at least trying to convince her to do some thorough inspection in her own council body. If the case is out of control, I will call some old friends for support."

"You mean…?"

"Yes." He neatened up his scarf and downed the rest of his coffee, "It's the time for us to kick some asses…"

A shrill ringtone broke the dramatic grandeur of one and only Kei Nanjo, who now visibly miffed at the interruption. Ken quickly answered the call, but immediately pulled the phone away from his ear as Yukari screamed on the other side of the phone.

"Where are you? Mitsuru-san asked for us to regroup, and you decide to run on your own?"

"Sorry, Yukari-san. I'll be there."

"No. Meet us in Junes, we'll talk about everything there."

"Ah, yes."

The young man closed his phone, and turned to his superior.

"I will speak with Mitsuru about you too."

"Thank you, Nanjo-san."

**88888**

The Velvet Room was silent, too silent for any of its inhabitants' liking. As one black pawn was defeated by the last white bishop, the black player clucked his tongue tauntingly at his opponent.

"_**You're getting hasty…"**_

"_Maybe. You seem to be ready for whatever I will throw you with."_

The black player laughed.

"_**Damn right I am! After what those Inaba children had done to me, I believe utter humiliation should be in store for you…"**_his voice was low, almost a whisper. But the sheer sinister pressure of each word was a thick as the Grimoire of the Heart, Louise Cypher frowned at the brave boast this vile creature spouted.

"I should destroy you here and now, Nyarlathotep. It would do us a favor, not to mention satisfying my anger for killing my 'son'."

"_**Your 'son' was nothing but a feeble aspect of your weakness. A worm unfitting for your stature, the great Lucifer, Conqueror of Heaven. That little fiend was more fitting than him to be called your 'son', was he not? Why bother with lost cause now?"**_

"Blatant cheater and petty murderer, cheap excuses of a lump of humanity's waste you are! How dare you crane your insolent neck to tell me such insult?"

"_Peace, Lucifer. Playing to his hand will do us no good." _The butterfly-masked man said calmly as he peered his ally from the small eye sockets.

"I'm tired of playing with you so-called 'Lawful' people…"

"_**I'm afraid you already roped into my game, and playing we shall."**_

The Crawling Chaos pushed another pawn forward; a move that made both Philemon and Lucifer raised an eyebrow. There were many opportunity to strike a more advantageous position inside Philemon's line, and yet this 'All Evil in the World' instead invested a round over this small pawn right in front of the entire defending force.

But the way he smirked made everyone on their guard.

"I present to you, Izanami-no-Okami."

Their game was interrupted when Igor stepped inside the blue room between dream and reality with a white-haired woman in tow. The long-nosed gentleman was perfectly aware of the tension between those inhabitants of the Velvet Room, and he wisely returned to his own abode when the woman somehow fanned the sheer choking atmosphere of the room to an unbelievable level with a single sentence.

"**I will see the Inaba children tore through the very boulder of the Underworld soon."**

The Great Father Nyarlathotep leaped out of his chair with one kick of his legs and rushed toward the white-haired woman, fingers curled into eagle-like talons. Philemon frowned and snapped his fingers; from one of the shelf of this great library the Room was taking its form, a thick tome pulled itself out and flipped its page until it stopped in a particular one. Barbed chain conjured from inside the page and bind the creature who right now took a form of a certain history teacher.

"_Crawling Chaos, you had violated one of the great rule not long ago. Do not repeat the deed or your defeat will be inevitable."_

"…"

"_Is there something that you want to say?"_

"_**You too, think of this entire drama as a game, no? Then why don't you feel inclined to win?"**_

"**It's because he knew that he 'will' win."**

He glared at the personification of humanity's desire for truth.

"**Shadow of the entire humanity's collective unconscious… of course you will never understand what kind of strength that could emerge from the sea of the souls when you're something that was born from people's denial. Good things, evil things, strength could emerge from everywhere. But you… you could only deny, that you will always deny that people have power to do good."**

"Well said, Izanami."

"_**But not 'well done'." **_He sneered, his yellow eyes glowed even darker shade of molten gold, _**"I will destroy them with my own hand if I have to see it comes true…"**_

The Crawling Chaos the disappeared in a swirl of darkness wisps, leaving the chess game unfinished. But it didn't even need his presence to have the other personification of humanity's psyche mulling over every move he made previously.

The small pawn stood defiantly in front of it opposition hung an uneasy feeling in each of their hearts.

**88888**

She smiled.

It was nice to have power.

Emma-hoo hummed a song inside her head. It was wordless, but for some reason she could imagine the lyrics as much as it was being sung to her. It was an enka, the kind that the nice old lady in last year's summer festival sung. She remembered her cousin helped the lady recovered her comb and letter, memento from her deceased husband. The smile on her world-worn face was so radiant, and she could see years of happiness visible on each wrinkles.

But she had to be stronger still.

The threat that she had to face was enormous, with no safety cable halted her fall into her doom.

The same doom that damned her cousin.

"Emma-hoo…"

**Yes, mine dear host?**

"Do you regret anything in your lifetime?"

**I, noble and loyal Emma-hoo, regret mine sire and dame could not solve their differences when I walked on this Earth.**

"But now they are, right?"

**Yes, they are. But I, Emma-hoo, wish it was sooner though.**

"And I will reunite them again." She could see her Persona tilted his head in confusion.

**Reunited? I, Emma-hoo, know they are in good term now, but didn't the Great Father consider mine dame as his mate no longer?**

"Relationship is not just of marriage and lovers, Emma. Family is not just of husband, wife, and children."

**Friends…**

"Yes."

**Am I, one Emma-hoo, thy friend, dear host?**

"Of course."

**As well as thy cousin's friends?**

"Absolutely."

**That's why thou want power? To enact revenge on the Crawling Chaos?**

"Do you think?"

**Revenge is one form of justice, dear host. But know what kind of revenge that would be in line with our nature? The fate that we were born in was one that of logic and intelligence, not of hotheadedness. I, loyal Emma-hoo, am not saying that the Crawling Chaos doth not deserve thy wrath, but it is not a good reason. Do thou understand?**

"…Yes, Emma. I know what you mean."

In her sea of her soul, Emma-hoo frowned even deeper.

**Then I, the loyal Emma-hoo, shalt accompany you even to the deepest pit of hell itself. For I, Emma-hoo, am thou. Thy determination is mine own, and mine power is thine to use.**

"Thank you, Emma." She let out a smile, "You don't know how much it means to me." Emma-hoo chuckled softly.

**As we speak of 'the deepest pit of hell', are thou ready?**

"Yes."

"Nanako-chan! Hurry up before other costumers fill this isle!"

She nodded and outstretched her hand. The smooth surface of the TV created some ripples as her fingers brushed it; with a little push, her hand tore through the solid glass like it was made of jelly. The rest of her body was sucked inside almost immediately and her body fell free on some strange space colored yellow and black. On her left, Marie had adjusted her position so she would fall on her feet, so Nanako tried to do the same.

It was harder than it looked, and she ended up fall into the Midnight Channel on her rump.

"Ow…"

Her pain was quickly changed with amazement. A space that looked like a studio, with several old-school televisions complete with their V-shaped antennae stacked together into mountains and spotlights. But what made this place slightly out of place were the multiple black circles on the yellow floor, complete with dozens of chalk drawings of people's silhouettes not unlike a crime scene and thick yellow fog from the time she met her Persona.

"Is this… the Midnight Channel?"

"The other will call this particular place simply with the name 'TV World', while the program that you can see in midnight at rainy day as 'Midnight Channel'. Though they are the same thing, the other would call them as such to differentiate what they were talking in particular."

"I see… So Onii-chan and the others were killed in this place?"

"Yes." Marie sobered up slightly, "Listen, we still don't know if the Crawling Chaos is still in this place so we're not going too far into the dungeons. And if he indeed is in there, then I have to ask you to leave the TV World."

She wanted to protest, but Marie didn't give her any of it. The weather newscaster pointed at the wall with strange red spiral twisting similar with the entrance of the TV World.

"It's just a small exploration, nothing harsh yet. After we used with the situation, then we'll go deeper. You bring the glasses?"

Nanako nodded mutely at the question and pulled out the glasses. It was Naoto's, definitely was. Marie too nodded in approval.

"Then, let's go."

**Chapter 4 Ends**

**88888**

One phrase could describe this chapter; continuity bonanza. Not that this entire fanfiction isn't a continuity bonanza, but this particular chapter is the start of that subtle kind of narration that implies everything without writing it out right. If you prevalent with not only the entire Persona series, but also the other MegaTen titles, then you might notice that Demi-Fiend is still around and the very identities of Elizabeth's other 'minions' from the conversations.

At the start of the chapter, we see just what happen to 'the Answer' chapter in the female protag's route, the reason why she said that 'she wasn't saved', and what happen if Mitsuru and Yukari won the coliseum fight. Pretty much the same case as the diversion of the possibility in 'Innocent Sin' and 'Eternal Punishment' universes, but with the entire world went into the Fall in Mikoto's route, the world was pretty much died and Nyarly won the round. The rest of humanity's memories of the event went into the Sea of Souls, but only Persona-users have the awareness of it just like the already established fact on how they had awareness of their souls are just a bunch of candlelights in previous chapters.

Emma-hoo's statement about 'when I walked in this Earth' might be a little strange, as the Personae are of human's mind's fabrication, but it's not a mistake. When the collective unconscious collects people's memories, from past and present, the mixture created the deities as humanity's answer toward the world's phenomenon. That's why some stories, like Orpheus's and Izanagi's descend to the underworld, are strikingly similar. People in the past had the experience, though in a not so fantastic details, and people at the particular present will make out the stories from their unconscious dream, which in turn create a full circle when people's belief of such story made them real, along with all those glamorous heroism they fabricated.

In short, the collective unconscious becomes a path to 'ascend to higher existence' for those very normal and very ordinary people's memories.

As I said, Jungian psychoanalysis is fun.

The status report:

**Shadow Operative:**

Lawful Good. Active. The second group encountered Elizabeth's group. Ken was a spy to Kei Nanjo.

**Investigation Team**

Chaotic Good. Active. Their descend to the TV World marked the change of the stance, and is the first since the case started to do so.

**Velvet Room**

Neutral Good. Passive. Philemon and Nyarlathotep gave each other's next move. Izanami-no-Okami officially joined the fray.

**Elizabeth Group**

Neutral Good. Active. Gained physical bodies and joined the fray while still focused with their initial mission.

There will be more of the participants, but these people are still the main focuses. Most of the secondary characters are moving in background much like the Velvet Room, and only be encountered when the paths of those mains are united.

Persona information in this chapter is Junpei's Persona in the dead world:

**Poemandres**

More commonly spelled Poimandres and Pimander, Poemandres is the titular character of a chapter of Corpus Hermenticum, the great book of Hermentism that was written by Hermes Trismegistus. Was initially meant by the Greek as the Man-Shepherd, recent studies definite the name as Egyptian phrase 'the Wisdom of Ra'. Poemandres is an omnipresence being, Jesus-like figure who guide mankind with his intelligence and desire of seeking truth.

Poemandres is a level 87 Persona of Magician Arcana, and you can say as the second form of Junpei's second tier ascended Persona, branching whether Hermes was infused with Medea or not. Because of the circumstance of the evolution, Poemandres doesn't have the regenerative ability Spring of Life of Trismegistus, but he's more flexible in term of elemental immunities. He reflects Agi, nulls Hama and Mudo, and resists Bufu. He still weaks to Garu, but he has skill Green Wall that half the damage for one turn.

Poemandres will not officially appear in the main storyline of this fanfiction.


End file.
